Since September 29, 1989 these two teams have not met on the gridiron.

According to Cougar head coach Ernest Young, his team will be ready.

"We are looking forward to it," Young said. "Even though we are a small team, only 11 players are on the field at one time."

Back up some. What about Moss Point and Clinton?

South Panola will not play Moss Point or Clinton this year. Better reverse that.

According to Tiger head coach Ricky Woods, Moss Point and Clinton do not want to play South Panola this year. Moss Point will play teams closer to home.

"We can’t get a team in Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas or Alabama to play us," said South Panola High School principal Del Phillips. "We have been on the phone since the Monday after the state championship game trying to round up some teams and no one wants to play us."

West Monroe, La., would play South Panola but their schedule is already full.

As of Wednesday, Feb. 5, South Panola still had two open dates.

Grenada, which came back into 5A after realignment this year, refused to play South Panola even though Grenada is open the same day as South Panola, according to Woods.

When Grenada came back into Region 5A, they were assigned to 2-5A instead of 1-5A where they played previously. The last two years Grenada was in 4A.

West Point came back into 1-5A. Greenville which was in 1-5A the past two years, went back to 2-5A, but are still on the Tiger schedule.

According to Woods, Greenville is also having trouble finding teams to play.

Never worry. Clarksdale refuses to back down from any challenge and will still be on the South Panola schedule.

If not for the required district teams that have to play South Panola, the Tigers would probably be down to a five-game schedule.

Woods and Phillips casually threw out in conversation the Tiger team may be traveling to Kentucky or Florida to play a game.

Hernando dropped off the North Panola schedule and refuse to play the Cougars. Lafayette remains on the North Panola schedule, but is willing to play in a different spot on the schedule so that South Panola and North Panola can meet.

South Panola lifters took two of the top three places in three weight classes, with a total of three first place individual medals, four second place medals, and three third place medals, giving the Iron Tigers 50 team points.

Hollis Hoskins, 308-pound class, placed first in his weight class and earned Best Lifter in the heavyweight division (198-Super Heavyweight classes) for the second time in as many weeks. Hoskins established his own personal best squat of 645 pounds, benched 425 pounds and deadlifted 600 pounds for a total of 1,670 pounds.

Wright signed with Mississippi State University and Pollard signed with the University of Memphis.

With the signees were (back, l to r) South Panola head football coach Rickey Woods and principal Dr. Del Phillips.

Everybody backed down from South Panola except inner-county rival, North Panola, always rival Clarksdale and the always tough Greenville.

The surprise of this list is North Panola.

My job of covering Panola County sports include North Panola, South Panola and North Delta. Even though I have some help, I get to these schools myself pretty often.

So, no, I do not like to see my teams playing each other. I would have to put on my professional veneer (ha) to cover this momentous event. It has been 13 years since these two teams have suited up against each other.

Not all of the T’s are crossed and I’s dotted and nothing is really confirmed yet, but whatever the outcome, the fact that North Panola wanted to go for this challenge is big enough news yet.

Yet, as powerhouse 5A teams backed down from a confrontation with South Panola, North Panola never thought to refuse.

Now, who are the cowards in this state?

It looks to me like the other schools in this state are just opening the door for South Panola to just walk in and take the state championship without a fight.

What kind of fun is that?

I know Starkville, Columbus, Tupelo, Horn Lake, West Point, Olive Branch and Southaven are glad they are in district play. They don’t have to defend themselves after this column hits the streets.

I can’t believe Moss Point and Clinton backed out of the schedule.

The rivalry between South Panola and Grenada goes back so far, everybody has quit counting. Yet, Grenada has an open date the same as South Panola and refuses to fill it with the Tigers.

Yeah, I’m calling all of those teams cowards and I double-dog-dare any of them to call South Panola up and fill those open dates.

Give me a call when the slot is filled.

I don’t even know what those dates are and don’t care. I just care that with an 11-game season, we don’t want to have two open dates. Open dates are for the faint-hearted.

The South Panola team and fans traveled 15 weeks straight and didn’t miss a beat last season. We’ll do it again.

How can those powerhouse 5A teams, who have 60 to 70 to 100 players on them, let a 3A team who can barely dress out 22 players step up to the plate and say "bring it on"?

North Panola has only won five games in the last three years and yet they have practically begged for an opportunity to meet South Panola on the gridiron.

Honestly, my eyes widened with horror when Coach Ricky Woods confirmed the rumors I had heard.

When one of the players told me this news, I said "it ain’t happening."

I did not feel North Panola was ready for that challenge. Coach Ernest Young set me straight real fast. (I had to get him to confirm it for me, too).

Young is very encouraged about the Cougar team and the excitement is already building for this confrontation.

I know there are inner-city and inner-county match ups all over the country. I just want to mother both teams and protect any of them from hurt hearts because one team will emerge victorious with bragging rights.

It’s okay to go for bragging rights with Clarksdale. They are two counties away. But with North Panola, South Panola could well be facing family, friends and work buddies.

That is the crux of my dilemma. This matchup has been a long time coming. I guess it will probably be the start of a new tradition.

Even though the South Panola Tigers are champions, the North Panola Cougars would win the brave heart award this week.

See ya’ on the sidelines…