The South Panola Tigers (3-0) kept their win streak alive at 48 with a decisive 41-7 victory over the Germantown Red Devils (2-1) Friday night.

The Tigers went deep in their depth and had 10 players carrying the ball for 317 rushing yards.

Another big statistic for the Tigers is 136 passing yards with two touchdown receptions.

The Tigers introduced punter/kicker David Renfroe as the new backup quarterback who took over for Leroy Diggs in the second half.

Scoring those passing touchdowns was Roderick Jefferson on a 61-yard reception from Diggs and an eight-yard pass from Renfroe.

The first connection happened with 5:57 left in the first half. Diggs had connected with Jefferson for a 12-yard pass. A holding penalty had pushed the Tigers back to their own 39 yard line when Diggs found Jefferson, who shook off a defender then sprinted for the score.

Jefferson scored off a Renfroe pass with 6:10 left in the third quarter.

Scoring first for the Tigers was Jeramie Griffin who had 49 yards on the evening. He scored on a nine-yard run on the opening possession with 8:59 left in the first quarter. The touchdown capped a six-play, 84-yard drive. With Renfroe’s PAT, the Tigers led 7-0.

Then Darius "Tigg" Barksdale capped a six-play, 79-yard drive with a four-yard run with 4:44 left in the first quarter.

On the Tigers’ next possession, it was Griffin again on a two-yard push into the end zone with 11:24 left in the first half. Renfroe’s PATs gave the Tigers a 28-0 lead after Jefferson’s first touchdown reception.

Before the half, Germantown recovered a Tiger fumble but the possession ended in a punt. Then Germantown intercepted a Renfroe ball and returned it 69 yards for a touchdown with 2:24 left in the first half to avoid a shutout. With the PAT, Germantown cut the lead 28-7 at halftime.

After Jefferson’s second touchdown, the Tigers scored one more run in the fourth quarter. On a 17-yard run, Mario Nash scored after angling around the left side. A nine yard touchdown by Nash was negated on a Tiger holding penalty the play before.

The PAT was no good and the score stood 41-7.

Carrying the ball for the nationally-ranked Tigers were Barksdale, 111 yards, 15 carries, one touchdown; Griffin, 49 yards, seven carries, two touchdowns; Diggs, 46 yards, three carries; Reuben Corley, 38 yards, five carries; Terrance Griffin, 25 yards, three carries; Mario Nash, 19 yards, two carries, one touchdown; David Conner, 16 yards, three carries; Xavier Lee, 10 yards, three carries; LaReco Lee, four yards, one carry; Quinton Wright, two carries, minus one yard.

Diggs completed five of eight passes for 98 yards and one touchdown. Renfroe completed two of five passes for 38 yards and one touchdown.

Jefferson had 123 receiving yards on five receptions and two touchdowns. Montez Austin had 13 receiving yards on two receptions.

The Tigers had a total of 453 offensive yards. Germantown had a total of 95 total yards, 72 rushing and 23 passing.

On defense, 15 different Tigers logged tackles. Leading in tackles were Chris Strong, seven; Marlone Wilks, six; Terrance Pope, five; and Kevin Young, Marvin Burdette, David Conner and Jarred Draper, three tackles each. Young and Wilks each had one sack.

The Tigers will be at home Friday to host another Memphis team, the Carver High Cobras. This will be the final non-conference game of the season.

Carver fell 28-20 to Mitchell Friday night after leading 14-0 at one time on two Mitchell turnovers.

The Cobras’ only win was against Westwood September 1, 34-21.

Other losses include Washington 30-0 and Christian Brothers 34-6.

Ticket booth will open at 6 p.m. for general admission tickets $5 and reserved seating $7. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
 

That first win still remains elusive for the North Panola Cougars.

Though the Cougars started out strong against Rosa Fort Friday, in the end the Lions won 26-9 in the first home game of the season.

At the beginning of the game, it would seem that the Cougars were the stronger team and executed plays better.

A few mistakes on the part of the Cougars though, led to scoring opportunities for the Lions.

Backup quarterback Quin Ellis, in for an injured Perry Trammell, connected with Jarvis Taylor for some key yards and the first score of the evening.

With 33.3 seconds left in the first quarter, Ellis and Taylor connected on a 16-yard pass.

Tyrus Mack’s PAT (point after touchdown) was good for the 7-0 lead.

That was the extent of the offensive threat from the Cougars.

Driving deep in the Lions’ territory in the second quarter, the Cougars fumbled and the Lions picked it up and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown to give the Lions a 12-7 lead with the missed PAT.

The Lions had scored earlier on a 15-yard run but the two-point conversion was halted by the Cougars.

The Cougars threw an interception on the possession following the fumble return, but the Lions did not convert that turnover into a score.

The Cougars were charging the end zone once more but fumbled on the Lions’ five yard line and the Lions recovered.

On second down, the Lions were backed up into the end zone and Jeremy Kemp sacked the quarterback for the safety with 18.8 seconds left in the half. That was the extent of scoring for the Cougars.

In the second half, the Lions scored on two, two-yard runs and a two-point conversion to go 3-0 on the season.

The Cougars fell to 0-3 on the season, but will be back home for the first game of the district season Friday. The Cougars will play host to Holly Springs (0-3). Both teams will be looking for their first win.

Kickoff is 7 p.m.
 

By William Correro

It was bound to happen. All the talk and discussion we had pre-season on how the new Coaches’ Challenge in Instant Replay wouldn’t be used since our replay officials review every play anyway.

Before the first half of the first college game of the season was over here’s the first ever Coaches’ Challenge. The challenge was whether or not a pass was completed by South Carolina for a touchdown.

The guys on the field ruled it was a TD because it was mass of humanity in the end zone and a South Carolina receiver came out of the pile with the ball. The call was challenged by the home team and was overturned when TV had one view that showed the ball in fact hitting the ground before the catch was completed.

It really shouldn’t count as a challenge because our replay official was looking at it and was just about to set off the beepers to stop the game for a review. At any rate that’s what replay is for: to be sure we get every play right. And it worked.

I always love having a game to do but it sure is a lot of extra work when I have to be the good ambassador for the SEC with an out-of-conference crew in to work a game.

Having to deal with different ways of doing all the things we do to get ready for a game and different ways they work it is a real load. Not to mention having to show them where everything is in a new – to them – stadium.

Working with or watching crews from other conferences though just reinforces our belief that we are across the board the best football conference in the country.

As I get ready for a quick trip to Knoxville for the Florida game I think back to all of these I have been in. I have only missed being in one since 1999.

There are two that really stand out as great games. First is the 2000 game at Tennessee where Jabbar Gaffney of Florida caught the touchdown pass that was so debated as to whether or not it actually was a catch. It was, by the way.

And then the next year in the wake of September 11 we postponed the game until December 1st and UT won it down at The Swamp in the last seconds of the game.

I just hope the 2006 version is close anyway. See you next week.

North Delta claimed its first district win over West Memphis Friday night with a 29-12 victory in a game which lasted two hours and 40 minutes.

The Green Waves (2-1 overall, 1-0 district) struck first on a safety with 4:58 left in the first quarter.

The West Memphis Black Knights were backed up to their own end zone on the one yard line. Green Wave Evan West tackled the player in the end zone for the safety.

After the safety, the Black Knights kicked off to the Green Wave from their own 20 yard line. The kickoff went out of bounds and the Black Knights got a five-yard penalty. They had to rekick the ball from their own 15 yard line.

On the kickoff return, Dakota Mabry ran the ball 65 yards for the touchdown with 4:49 left in the first quarter. The PAT was good by Jim Tyler Dalrymple to give the Green Wave a 9-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

With 5:51 left in the second quarter, the Black Knights had a third and nine with the ball on the Green Wave’s 20 yard line. On a 20-yard pass reception, the Black Knights got on the scoreboard to cut the lead to 9-6 after the two-point conversion failed.

That lead didn’t last but a few minutes. The Black Knights took the lead with 3:10 left in the fist half on a 49-yard touchdown run.

The two point conversion failed. The Black Knights led 12-9 at halftime.

The only score in the third quarter was a 17-yard run by Green Wave Evan West which gave the lead back to North Delta. The PAT with 6:18 left in the quarter by Dalrymple was good to give the Green Wave the 16-12 lead.

With less than nine minutes left in the game, Nick Douglas intercepted a pass on the Black Knight’s 27 yard line. The Green Wave took advantage of the turnover and scored on a Dalrymple two-yard run with 8:37 left in the game. The two point conversion failed and the Green Wave led 22-12.

On the Black Knight’s next possession, Douglas pulled in his second interception of the evening with 7:28 left in the game.

The Green wave took over first and 10 with the ball on the Black Knight’s 30 yard line. Dalrymple again took advantage of the turnover and turned it into a score. He scored on a 15-yard run and also kicked the PAT for the final scores of the game with 5:10 left.

Green Wave head coach Richard Russo gave the backup players some game time and experience with 3:15 left in the game.

Despite the victory, Russo expressed disappointment in the way the team played.

"We went from playing one half at Marshall to playing three quarters this week," said Russo. "I’m still waiting on us to play four solid quarters of football. I can’t wait to see when that happens.

"We came out intense, we were hitting, and the pads were popping in the first quarter," said Russo. "We shut down their best player. We got up 9-0 and for some reason, we got complacent and thought that we had the game won."

Russo said he had to calm down and get back to the writing board.

"I told them that I wanted to see one of the most physical halves ever played on this field in history played in the second half," he said. "I told them that they had to play smart. The kids were fired up and ready to get back out there."

The Green Wave had 320 yards of total offense, including 248 yards in rushing.

Jim Tyler Dalrymple completed five of eight passes for 72 yards. He was three for three in extra points. He had five punts for a 45-yard average. He rushed 15 times for 42 yards and two touchdowns.

The Green Wave had 70 yards in penalties and 12 first downs. They had four fumbles and lost three of them and no interceptions.

Handling the ball for the Green Wave were Evan West had 11 carries, 96 yards and one reception, 35 yards; Devin Maples, seven carries, 75 yards; Nick Douglas, eight carries, 23 yards; Mabry had eight carries, 10 yards, 52 yard kickoff return touchdown; Josh Garrott, one reception, 13 yards; Hunter West, one reception, nine yards; Seth Barnett, one reception, eight yards; and Blane Joyner, one reception, seven yards.

On defense, Mabry led the team with 13 tackles and a forced fumble. Devin Maples had nine tackles, one quarterback sack, one forced fumble, and one pass breakup. Douglas had seven tackles with two interceptions and two pass breakups. Garrott had seven tackles. Bateman Greenlee had two quarterback sacks late in the fourth quarter.

The Green Wave will go out of district play this Friday night when they travel to Grenada to take on the Kirk Academy Raiders at 7:30 p.m.
 

Sponsored by the South Panola Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) as a fall project, tickets for the event are $6 and allow the holder to hear Gospel music beginning at 4:30 and enjoy a chicken dinner with all the trimmings beginning at 5 p.m. followed by a game featuring local celebrities and used-to-bes.

All proceeds for the event will go to the four wreck victims according local FCA sponsor Randy Boren.

Tyler Benson, Monroe Harrison, Brandon Taylor and Jonathan Ware were all seriously injured in the wreck that occurred July 13 near Philadelphia.

All were members of the South Panola varsity baseball team.

Those interested in the evening of baseball, gospel music and dinner should contact any baseball team member or member of Junior Civitan for tickets.
 

By Robert Neill

I was eating lunch out at Betsy’s High Place, where the lion lies down with the Lamb, the other day and was having a ball watching the hummingbirds in her flowers and feeders.

There must have been a dozen whirring around, feeding, fighting, chasing each other across the yard, and even inspecting me far too closely, until I realized I was wearing flame orange swimming trunks my youngest had bought for me.

Evidently, they were attracted to the bright color, and I made a mental note to change britches before I came back, as I picked up my plate and glass and considered what might be in the fridge for dessert.

But as I walked across the yard, I heard another type of whirring, and glanced up, searching the skies. When one has been closely associated with helicopters in his younger days, the sound of a chopper compels you to look up for the rest of your life.

Helicopters are not uncommon out thisaway, but they are generally the smaller ones that we used to call "Hueys" (HU-1E military designation), or even the "Loaches" (LOH = Light Observation Helicopter).
This one sounded bigger, with multiple rotors. I was on a carrier once when we deployed for the first combat test of the "Sea Knight" choppers, CH-46s. The one flying over Brownspur now looked like the heavier version, the CH-47 Chinook, which was commonly known by another name in far-off places.
I noted its passing to Betsy when I went inside, and she reminded me of the coming air show and balloon fly-in at the Mid-Delta Regional Airport 15 miles away.

Whirring wings are one of the benefits of living out here at Brownspur, though my favorite harbingers of those sounds haven’t been as active this summer, I reckon because of the hot dry conditions. My image of Heaven involves a hammock in the shade between a bay magnolia and a gardenia, both eternally in bloom, next to an arbor overgrown with honeysuckle, in which bumblebees are gently buzzing as they work the blossoms and bore into the cypress of the arbor.

The next step involves good-looking angels bringing me mint tea and slices of lemon meringue or muscadine pie, their wings whirring softly as the hover nearby. That may not be in your own Bible, by the way.

Hummingbirds, bumblebees, helicopters, and angels might be the main sources of whirring flyers out here, but I observed another type of whirring wings that left me plumb mystified for a few minutes later that afternoon at the Swimming Hole.

I was wading into the water at the shady shallow end, when I observed something move away from the bank in the deep end, passing close by the condemned Jumping Tree. Something was making a wake on the surface of the calm water, a fast wake. Since I throw in eight pounds of chlorine a week, I didn’t think it could be a snake, but whatever it was, it was sure in a hurry! I dove in and swam to inspect it more closely.

Weird! You know those dirt daubers that have a body like unto a red wasp, but have almost translucent blue-black fluttery wings? One of those insects had captured something too heavy for it to pick up, so it was ferrying it across the Swimming Hole on the surface of the water, powered like an airboat by the whirring wings of the dirt dauber.

The object obviously floated, it just needed propulsion. I could scarcely catch it and keep close as the dauber guided its burden all the way across the deep end, and into a maze of cypress knees beside the deck, where it disappeared. It must have had a nest up in a cranny of the knees, mudded over so as to be invisible to me, for I never discovered where it went, so as to see what the heck the object was.

I gave up, did my swimming exercises, then snagged one of the net floats that lets you drift suspended half under the cool waters, and I was doing that, sipping on a root beer, checking my eyelids for light leaks, when I again was distracted by a close whirring sound. I smiled as I opened my eyes to watch the antics of the Swimming Hole hummingbirds.

Too close! I had forgotten to change those doggone flame orange britches B.C. had given me! I had to bail off the float, as the little hummers chirped their displeasure at the sudden departure of their intended investigation. Blue trunks are safer!