South Panola wins big over MUS

By Brad Greer
The big, broad smile on South Panola head coach Ricky Woods face said it all. “This was South Panola football of old tonight,” Woods proclaimed.
Indeed it was coach, indeed it was.
Led by quarterback Patrick Shegog’s four touchdowns and a suffocating defense that allowed 178 total yards, South Panola ran its record to 4-1 on the season with a 34-10 thumping of Memphis University School Friday at Robert H. Dunlap Stadium.
“This was the most complete ball game, both offensively and defensively we have played all season. As a team you want to improve every week and we have. Coach (Chuck) Friend did an outstanding job getting our defense ready to play tonight as he mixed a few things around and had a great game plan,” said Woods.
” I feel like everybody did their job and was in the right position to make plays. We soundly beat a very good football team so we’re proud of the kids. Their linebackers were very good, but we knew if we could get past them in the open field we were faster than they were so overall it was a great effort,” said Woods.
After spotting the Owls an early 3-0 lead, South Panola’s offense went to work as on 3rd-and-1 from the MUS 43, Shegog called his own number and scampered down the right sideline for the score to give the Tigers a 6-3 lead following the failed PAT with 2:29 left in the first quarter.
The Tigers increased their margin to 13-3 as the second half got underway and Shegog hit Jordan Strong on a short slip screen that resulted in a 65-yard touchdown reception with Blaine Ware adding the point after. The drive covered 80 yards on five plays and was set up by the first of two interceptions by junior defensive back Morris House.
South Panola tacked on another score late in the half as Shegog tossed a short two-yard pass to Quin Bradford to make the score 20-3 with 1:52 left in the half.
The Tigers dominated the first half statistical battle by out-gaining MUS 261-50 in total yardage. South Panola limited the Owls to 69 yards on the ground while rushing for 245 yards of their own. Shegog paved the way with 17 carries for 144 yards while completing 15-of-19 passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns.
“I feel like we kind of underestimated Greenville and Clarksdale but we couldn’t do that tonight with these guys because we knew what kind of team they had. We played hard for four quarters and never let up. District play starts next week at Horn Lake so this was a huge confidence builder tonight. We just have to keep improving every week” said Shegog.
South Panola began to pull away in the third quarter on an outstanding diving 19-yard scoring stab by Barry Flowers from Shegog to make the score 27-3 at the 5:33 mark. Bradford put the finishing touches on the game with a two-yard run followed by Ware’s point after. Bradford followed Shegog in the rushing column with 74 yards on 15 carries while catching two passes for 11 yards.
MUS (2-3) scored their lone touchdown with four seconds remaining in the game on a two-yard pass.
South Panola garnered a season-high 428 yards total offense.
Nate Harris garnered three carries for 16 yards while House and Teo Collins added one carry for seven and four yards each.
Flowers led the receiving unit with five catches for 39 yards. John Railey followed with three catches for 19 yards. Kanoda Lewis registered two receptions for 17 yards. Strong added two catches for 94 yards and four tackles on defense. House caught one pass for three yards while contributing with three tackles and a blocked field goal.
Jaqualin Gillespie led the South Panola defense with eight tackles. Robert Hentz added seven stops with three tackles-for-loss. Lakendrick Willingham posted a season-high seven tackles.
Caleb Grayer, Terry Bishop and Alexander Jordan registered five tackles. Wade Thornton chipped in with three tackles and a quarterback sack. Jameel Thompson also recovered a fumble for South Panola. A.J.Norwood punted three times for a 27 yard avgage.
The Tigers open up Region 1-6A Friday at Horn Lake.