Panola teams have stoked the thrill of high school football

By John Howell, Publisher

Two Panola County high school teams have provided fans with a season’s plus worth of great football and the third team keeps on giving.
After a decisive 38-18 win over Charleston last week the North Panola Cougars will head to Ackerman Friday night to meet Choctaw County in the third round of the State 3A playoffs.
What we have seen from North Delta, South Panola and North Panola is the culmination of months of training, practice and sheer grit from teenage boys and the erstwhile coaches who try to channel the energies of those young men into physical excellence and to lead their thinking into working for what’s good for the team. That is what happens with team sports, especially football, and why we become such avid followers.
The players are going through an age where each is often self-consciously focused on himself and what’s in it for him. But to participate, he must step outside his immediate shell and join with others toward a common goal. In this case the common goal is marked by those posts at the end of the field. The point is to get your guy across it and keep the other guy from getting there.
That takes teamwork, and our Panola County teams have delivered with North Delta getting to the first round of playoffs at Indianola and South Panola getting to their first round at Madison Central.
Now all eyes are on North Panola and Friday night’s third round at Ackerman. The hopes of Panola County go with them, hoping for a win that could — never mind, just hoping for a win, one at a time.
Good luck Cougars. And thanks, Green Wave; thanks Tigers. Those who are younger look up to you, hoping to emulate your success. Those who are older share a vicarious thrill in your success.
You give all of us a good time, and we appreciate it.