SP wins homecoming matchup

By Brad Greer
While it wasn’t the homecoming they where hoping for, South Panola took care of business in a driving rain to rout Columbus 41-7 in front of a handful of hardy souls Friday night at Robert H. Dunlap Stadium.
In the process, the Tigers wrapped up a birth in the upcoming playoffs with a 4-2 district record and 8-3 overall. South Panola hosts Desoto Central Thursday in the regular season finale.
For the second consecutive game, the Tigers produced two 100-yard rushers as Quin Bradford paved the way with 137 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns. Quarterback Patrick Shegog had scoring runs of 51, 24 and 23 yards as the Tigers built a 27-7 lead at halftime.
A running clock was imposed with 6:36 remaining in the third quarter after Bradford’s seven-yard run gave the Tigers a 34-7 advantage. Sophomore Teo Collins put the finishing touches on the game with a five-yard run with 2:16 remaining in the game.
“I was a little concerned how we would handle the weather conditions but the kids did a good job. We had only one turnover and that was early in the game. I thought our offensive line did a really good job creating holes for a running game. Defensively we did a solid job by not giving up a touchdown and had a pretty good defensive stand at the end of the half,” said Tiger head coach Ricky Woods.
Columbus surprisingly got on the board first when Jordan Randle scooped up a fumble and raced 67 yards for the score with Chris Taylor adding the point after.
From there on out it was all South Panola as the Tigers found the endzone on their next four possessions, three of which started in Falcon territory.
Aided by a Wade Thorton fumble recovery at the Columbus 30, the Tigers wasted little time knotting the score as Bradford sloshed his way 18 yards into the endzone with Blaine Ware booting the PAT with 3:05 left in the quarter.
South Panola took the lead at 13-7 on the following series with Shegog going up the middle 23 yards untouched.
Two punt returns by Morris House set up South Panola’s next two scoring drives as the second quarter got underway. On the first play from scrimmage, Shegog yet again found a hole up the middle of the Falcon defensive line and raced 51 yards to give the Tigers a 20-7 cushion after Ware’s successful point after.
After holding Columbus three-and-out on the following drive, House put the Tigers in business at the Columbus 26 with a 39-yard punt return. Quin Benson sprung House on the return with a crushing block that took out two Falcon defenders at midfield.
Shegog added his final touchdown of the night as he stumbled into the endzone after a 24-yard run at the 9:03 mark with Ware adding his third point after.
Woods credited sophomore offensive linemen Quin Hodges, Antonio Victom and Daunte Carr for their solid line play.
South Panola ground out 342 yards on the ground as seven ball carriers saw action. Shegog followed Bradford in the rushing column with 12 carries for 122 yards. Derrick Cunningham chipped in with 44 yards on 11 carries while Nate Harris registered three carries for 25 yards. Barry Flowers garnered one carry for five yards.
Shegog completed two passes both to Kanoda Lewis for 44 yards.
Jaqualin Gillespie led the South Panola defense with ten tackles while Robert Hentz and Thorton supplied eight each. Hentz also recorded three tackles-for-loss and a quarterback sack.
Terry Bishop and Jaylen Heffner garnered three stops each. Caleb Grayer broke up three passes. Freshman Tre’ Norwood registered his first varsity quarterback sack. Punter A.J. Norwood added two punts for a 28.5 average.