Cougars slam Palmer 54-0 to stay undefeated

By Ike House
What started as two district opponents has developed into a rival between Marks Palmer and the North Panola Cougars.
However, the last couple of years North Panola has found a way to dominate and showed that change in a 54-0 shutout of the Dragons Friday night.
The Cougars will take that 9-0 undefeated record to Water Valley Friday to face the other 3-3A undefeated team for the district championship.
Midway through the third quarter the clock began to run between North Panola and M.S. Palmer due to the mercy rule of 40 points in high school football. The Cougars are off to their best start in school history going 9-0.
Social media hyped this game up to full stands Friday night between the rivals. The Cougars shut the hype and all the talk of a rivalry with their performance.
North Panola received the ball first and got into the end zone after a heavy dose of Antwon Oliver and Clarence Taylor.
Running the ball opened play action pass and Kenneth Jefferson found Jarvis Echols on a 31-yard touchdown pass. The Cougars led 6-0 as the two-point attempt failed.
It did not take long for the Cougars to score again as Sylvonta Oliver intercepted a pass and returned it 57 yards for a touchdown for the 14-0 lead after the two-point conversion.
Two drives later the Cougars stretched, Jefferson completed a touchdown pass to Jonathan Harris for a 20-yard strike on 4th-and-goal. The Cougars led 22-0 after the two point conversion.
Scoring for the Cougars was something the Dragons could not stop as on the next offensive possession for the Cougars was a successful one.
Jefferson scored on the next offensive position on a six-yard run. The score stood 28-0 as the two-point attempt failed.
Cougar penalities helped Palmer to get closer to scoring, but Cougar Tyler Shorter interrupted their plans with his fourth interception of the season
Special teams for the Cougars got into the game as Demarco Smith blocked his third punt on the season.
One play later Jefferson connected with Jamarvis Echols on a 15-yard pass to go 34-0.
The Cougars defense was tough to move the ball against and they forced a three and out from the Dragons and that led to a one-play drive from the Cougars.
Jefferson connected on his fourth touchdown of the night with a 45-yard pass to Oliver to take a 40-0 lead.
Turnovers were something the Cougars could force any time and they proved that on the Dragons next drive.
Marvin Adams showed Palmer why he was formerly a defensive back as he returned an interception for a touchdown and a 46-0 lead.
That led to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for Palmer with the return man hitting one of the Cougars which led to him being ejected from the game.
All of these events occurred before halftime. In the second half the Cougars only got to run eight plays total due to the running clock.
One of the plays was their last scoring play of the game with Taylor scoring on a four yard run. He collected the two point conversion that lead to a 54-0 final.
The Cougars finished the night with 300 yards of offense and had four forced turnovers with two defensive touchdowns.
Jefferson finished the night 8-12 for 169 yards and four touchdowns. He also led the team in rushing with five carries for 52 yards and a touchdown.
Other rushers were Antwon Oliver with nine carries nine carries for 28 yards; Taylor with five carries for 27 yards and a touchdown and Sylvonta Oliver had two carries for four yards.
Leading the receivers was Jamarvis Echols with four catches for 63 yards and a touchdown.
Other receivers were Sylvonta Oliver with a catch for 45 yards and a toucdown; Jarvis Echols had a catch for 31 yards and a touchdown; Harris had a catch for 20 yards and a touchdown and Eric Bailey had a catch for 10 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball Chris Clark and Quinterrious Walls led the way. Clark had five tackles, three tackles for a loss and a sack. Walls had five tackles, a sack and a tackle for a loss.
Other tacklers were Norman Edwards had three tackles; Smith had two tackles, a sack, a tackle for a loss and a blocked punt; Kylan Osborn and Jaylen Gipson had two tackles and a tackle for a loss each; Malcolm Lyons, Spencer Higganbotham and Kentarrious Tucker all had two tackles each; Adams had a tackle, an interception and a defensive touchdown; Quadarius Jones had a tackle and a pass break up; Roderick Taylor, Ethan Leverson, Karterikkous Walls and Zantavious Phillips all had a tackle each; Sylvonta Oliver had a pass break up, an interception and defensive touchdown and Shorter had an interception.
The Cougars compete for the district championship this week traveling to Water Valley. Kickoff is 7 p.m.