The South Panola Tigers took on a tough Provine Rams team and emerged with a 28-21 victory.

The Tigers kept their 57-game win streak alive with the victory and will play host to the Clinton Arrows in round two of the playoffs Friday night on Tiger Field in Robert H. Dunlap Stadium.

Though this matchup between the Tigers and the Rams could only be called extremely physical, the Tigers have had to put that game behind them and concentrate on hosting Clinton.

The Tiger coaching staff was at the field house this weekend working out the strategy for the upcoming game.

Clinton (9-3) is a team that is "even better" than Provine, according to Tiger head coach Ricky Woods.

Clinton defeated Tupelo 19-10 to move on to the next round.

A bad news note for South Panola is the injury problem. Senior linebacker Kevin Young and sophomore defensive back David Conner are not expected to play Friday, according to assistant coach Trenell Edwards. Both suffered right "minor" knee injuries in the game against Provine and did not play the second half.

Going into Friday’s game Young had 59 tackles, caused a fumble, had one interception and six sacks on the season. Conner had 34 tackles and caused one fumble going into the game.

Assistant coach Michael Fair reported the Tiger offensive line will be back intact for Friday’s matchup against Clinton.

In other action Friday, Olive Branch narrowly defeated Madison Central 14-10 to move on to the next round.

Northwest Rankin and Starkville had a barn burner, but Northwest Rankin emerged with a 33-32 victory.
In the southern region of 5A, George County (10-2) defeated Brandon 24-14. Moss Point (7-5) defeated Hattiesburg 35-6. Moss Point will travel to George County Friday night.

Meridian (9-3) defeated Ocean Springs 42-14. Oak Grove (11-1) defeated Pascagoula 42-6. Meridian will travel to Oak Grove Friday night for the second round.

In round 2 4A action, Oxford was defeated by West Point 27-23 to end the season. Clarksdale and Lafayette County remain alive in the playoffs with wins. Clarksdale defeated Louisville 35-20 and Lafayette County defeated Kosciusko 17-14 to move on.

Wayne County also remains undefeated in 4A with a 30-17 win over Brookhaven.

In 3A Senatobia was eliminated by Charleston in a four overtime game 26-20.

In 2A, last year’s state champion Lumberton was shut out by St. Andrew’s 17-0.

In private school playoffs, Magnolia Heights remains undefeated with a 48-20 win over Hillcrest Christian and will meet Lamar School Friday for the state championship game at Mississippi College.

North Delta was eliminated in the first round with a 55-22 loss to Trinity Episcopal.

Tickets for the South Panola/Clinton game will be $7 and will be on sale at the high school Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The ticket booth opens at 6 p.m. and no reserved seating is sold for playoff games.

The Swamp has always been a great place to work a game and welcoming ole Coach Steve Spurrier back this time on the visitor sidelines could be interesting.

He’s one you never know what he’s liable to pull out of his old playbook. Since I’m just getting ready to head for Memphis International for the trip to Gainesville as I write here we’ll see if anything interesting does happen and get into it next week.

I know you’ve been paying attention to the occasional mentioning of the new rules in the NCAA and saw the issue that came up last week regarding one of the clock rules.

Penn State was playing at Wisconsin and had a seven-point lead after a score with only 23 seconds left in the first half. Wisconsin intentionally encroached on the kickoff after a score.

The play was beyond obvious with the whole kicking team being at least five yards beyond the ball when it was kicked.

The new rule on kickoffs calls for the clock to start when the ball is kicked. Wisconsin was just taking the intentional penalty to run time off so old Joe Paterno wouldn’t have time to go for a quick score.
They ended up kicking off three times and burning all 23 seconds off the clock. There were several options that could have stopped that.

Penn State could have elected to have the penalty enforced from the end of the return. That would have ended all that after one time. Along those lines, the Referee didn’t seem to explain anything to the offended team regarding their options.

I would have told the captain that he should take the ball at the 20 since it was a touchback and then penalize Wisconsin the five-yards for offsides. That option was also added for this year so it’s not an automatic re-kick on that penalty. The ABC booth talent didn’t know that either because all they talked about was how the new rules were so flawed, etc.

Then there was also an option where the Referee could invoke rule 3-4-3 which allows him to administer any penalty for a situation that is not covered in the rules.

In this case he could have enforced the five yard penalty with a re-kick after letting the offending coach know that if he did it again time was going to be put back on the clock and he would be charged with an unsportsmanlike penalty. That would have ended that real quick.

That rule is hardly used and it even includes awarding a touchdown. Say a runner has left everyone in the dust and on his way for a big score when a substitute comes off the bench and tackles him.

The Referee’s ensuing announcement would quote rule 3-4-3 with an awarded touchdown. You just never know what’s going to happen. That’s why we play the games. See you next week.

This column is being written a little later than usual. I generally write my weekly column over the weekend and send it out to my papers by e-mail. This weekend I was busy.

Busy waiting.

I ain’t finished that yet, as of Monday morning, even though the medically scheduled delivery date was Saturday, day before yesterday. Some papers run this column on Wednesday, some on Thursday, some on Sunday.

I hope that, whenever you read this, I am finished waiting to become a grandfather.

For years, my kids have been telling me, "You and Mom aren’t old enough to be grandparents yet!"

Apparently as of Monday, November 13, 2006, at a quarter after ten, I still ain’t old enough for that experience.

I never knew my grandfather on my daddy’s side; he died of a stroke the week before Big Robert and Miss Janice tied the knot. My maternal grandfather, whom we called "Doctor" (he was an M.D.), lived to a ripe old age and presented me with the Colquitt family Bible when Betsy and I got married.

But Doctor didn’t hunt and seems like he was always busy doctoring, though he did let me observe his ministrations on Saturday mornings on his side porch at Sunflower, where he patched up those who had maybe celebrated too much on Friday night.

Ma’am, my grandmother, (she kept a thimble on her middle finger to raise knots on a young’un’s head if he didn’t say "Yes Ma’am, No Ma’am, Thank you Ma’am, Please Ma’am") said that Doctor had been a semi-pro baseball player when young, was left handed, and was totally color blind.

My son Adam played college baseball and was scouted by the pros before being injured in our house fire, he pitched left-handed, and is totally color blind. Heredity works.

So, I’ve been eager to see what heredity will do for my promised grandson. Obviously, he’s already inherited his grandmother’s sense of timing: Betsy joking refers to herself as "The late Mrs. Neill."

On the other hand, Betsy and I both have worked for years in the Kairos International Prison Ministry. Kairos is a Greek word meaning "God’s Special Time."

In a Kairos Rector’s first talk on a ministry, the Manual gives the following example of the difference in the two Greek words for time: "Chronos" is like when the doctor says (in August) that the baby is due on Saturday, November 11th at 10 a.m.; "Kairos" is like when B.C. punches John at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, November 14th (maybe) and announces that "It’s time to get me to the hospital!"

Perhaps our grandson has inherited that sense of "God’s Special Time" that his maternal grandparents have experienced in prison.

Let’s all pray he doesn’t end up behind bars, except with a Kairos team, okay?!

His soon-to-be Great-Uncle Beau was born with an extra thumb, which some unthinking doctor removed soon after birth. Can you imagine what a left-handed pitcher (should he inherit southpawism from his great-granddaddy, granddaddy, Uncle Adam and Cudd’n Will) could do to a curve ball with an extra thumb?

Shoot, by the time he hits the major leagues, they’ll be paying two-thumbed pitchers billions of dollars; think what George Steinbrenner III would give for a three-thumbed pitcher!

But I can’t see a Mississippi Neill progeny in a Yankee uniform. Maybe Ted Turner III will be keeping good pitchers on the Braves by then.

Will this Kid shoot left-handed, so as to inherit my Remington SouthPow 12 gauge shotgun? Or will he shoot right-handed, so as to inherit Big Robert’s White Rifle, the 30/06 that Betsy and B.C. shoot so well? Will he draw and paint, like all the others in the family except his Granddaddy Uncle Bob? Or maybe just write, like me?

Will he inherit his Grandmother Betsy’s dark-haired and eyed good looks, or will he get blonde-haired, green/gray/blue-eyed ruggedness of his Granddaddy Uncle Bob?

Will he be graceful like normal people, or will he be breaking things like his aforesaid Granddad, who at last count had over 21 broken bones, another 14 major joint injuries, and 130+ stitches holding his skin together. Miz Janice used to say I could just walk through the room, and pictures would fall off the wall. We’ll know, in Kairos Time!
 

The South Panola Tigers (12-0) took on a tough Provine Rams team and emerged with a 28-21 victory.

The Tigers, led by senior tailback/fullback Jeramie Griffin, played one of their toughest first playoff games ever against Provine Friday night.

Griffin led the Tigers with three touchdowns and 196 yards on 15 carries in what he said was one of the toughest first round teams they had played since he has been around.

That brings his total 1,125 yards, 146 carries and 16 touchdowns on the year.

It was an extremely physical matchup between the Tigers and the Rams that saw some injuries to key players Friday night.

Senior linebacker Kevin Young left the field favoring his right knee with 6:04 left in the first quarter. He returned for a couple of plays, but was not able to finish the game.

Sophomore defensive back David Conner also left the game favoring his right knee with 10:02 left in the first half.

According to assistant coach Trenell Edwards, neither player is expected to play Friday night due to "minor" knee injuries.

Injuries were not the only plague on South Panola Friday night. The Tigers lost three balls to fumbles and threw one interception.

Provine also returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown to take the lead 7-6 with the PAT with 10:11 left in the first half.

Jeramie Griffin said, "We had to dig a little deeper to pull out the victory. Provine showed they really wanted the game."

The Tigers took the opening kickoff and got on the board first. Griffin took the ball 39 yards up the middle after key blocks for the score. The extra point failed as the Tigers led 6-0 with 7:47 on the first quarter clock.

Provine punted its possession away, but on a Tiger fumble got the ball back on second down and three with 5:21 left in the first quarter. They started on the Tiger 36.

The Rams were trying to move the ball, but the Tiger defense held strong. Provine tried to convert a fourth down and two, but fumbled the ball and Demetrius Dunn recovered.

The Tigers again fumbled their next possession and Provine recovered on the Tiger 44 yard line with 56 seconds left in the first quarter.

Provine tried to convert a fourth down and three on the Tiger 22, but the Tiger defense denied them as the Rams threw back-to-back incomplete passes and practically shut down the run.

On another Tiger mistake, Provine intercepted a Diggs pass to senior wide receiver Roderick Jefferson with 8:25 left in the first half. The defender got in front of Jefferson and snatched the ball out of the air.

Penalties hurt the Rams as they logged seven for 90 yards throughout the game and forced them to punt away possessions.

On the same pass play from Diggs to Jefferson, Jefferson got behind the defender and used his 6’5" height for advantage. Jefferson’s long arms also aided him as he grabbed the ball out of the air, did a little two-step to put some space between him and the Rams defender and ran 60 yards for a touchdown. With 1:13 left in the second quarter, Diggs ran the two-point conversion into the end zone to retake the lead 14-7.

In the second half, Provine took the opening kickoff and tied the score on its first possession with 8:34 on the clock on a two-yard run by Anton Taylor. The PAT was good for the 14-14 score.

Taylor was the Rams’ leading rusher this year with over 2,000 yards, averaging about 200 yards per game. The South Panola defense held him to 104 yards.

Of the 40 rushing plays for the Rams, Taylor carried the ball 34 times. Of the 10 completed passing plays, Taylor caught two.

After the kickoff, on first down South Panola committed its third fumble and Provine got it back on the Tiger 34 yard line with 8:18 left in the third quarter.

The Tiger defense was again the stronger as Provine was forced to turn the ball over on downs. On fourth down and two from the 25, senior Tiger linebacker Chris Strong dropped Taylor for a tackle for a loss to the 27.

On the next possession, the Tigers held onto the ball and in four plays, Griffin broke for a 56-yard run with 5:44 left in the quarter. A Ram defender grabbed onto Griffin at the three, but Griffin took him into the end zone with him.

The two-point conversion failed and the Tigers led 20-14 going into the fourth quarter.

With a key block from offensive lineman Quin Sanford, Griffin broke up the middle again for a 37-yard touchdown run with 9:55 left in the game.

The Tigers capped an eight-play, 80-yard drive with the two point conversion from Diggs to Griffin for the 28-14 lead.

After the kickoff, Provine was moving the ball with a mixture of pass and run plays.

On third down and 12 from the Tiger 38, Diggs who was doing double duty as a defensive back intercepted the ball with 6:49 left in the game and returned it to the Tiger 41 yard line. The Tigers moved the ball to the Ram 22 behind the legs of junior tailback Tigg Barksdale. On fourth and one, the Tigers were denied and turned the ball over on downs on the 22.

Despite back-to-back illegal procedure penalties, Provine was able to get in one last score before time expired. With 34 seconds left in the game, the Rams scored on a 16-yard pass to wide receiver Will Moore. With the PAT, the Tiger lead was cut 28-21.

The Rams were not giving up as they attempted an onside kick. It was recovered by junior tightend Jevon Robertson, who received a poke in the eye for his troubles.

The Tigers took a knee to end the game.

During halftime, the Provine band performed first and played to the visiting crowd.

The South Panola band took the field and on its last number played "September" on the track in concert formation. The Tiger crowd appreciated the serenade and showed it with a standing ovation.

In addition to Griffin, carrying the ball for the Tigers were Barksdale, 63 yards on 13 carries; Diggs, six yards on 11 carries and Corley, four yards on one carry.

Diggs completed three of five pass attempts for 87 yards and one touchdown.

Jefferson caught two passes for 73 yards and one touchdown.

For the Rams, quarterback Doug Rash completed 10 of 23 passes attempts for 163 yards and one touchdown.

The Tigers had 356 total offensive yards, including 269 rushing and 87 passing.

The Rams had 280 total yards with 163 passing and 117 rushing.

Provine controlled the clock with 26:39 minutes to South Panola’s 21:21 minutes.

Tickets for the South Panola/Clinton game will be $7 and will be on sale at the high school Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The ticket booth opens at 6 p.m. and no reserved seating is sold for playoff games.

The North Delta Green Wave traveled to Natchez last Friday night, November 10, taking on the Trinity Saints in the first round of Class A playoffs and found themselves up against a brick wall. The Saints dominated the game defeating the Green Wave 55-22.

The first half was played mostly on the Green Wave end of the field as Trinity took a 48-0 halftime lead.

The Green Wave ended the season 6-6. They lost one game to a 3A school, two games to 2A schools and three games to 1A schools.

It was very a disappointing end to the season even though the Green Wave has had to overcome so many problems. It was no wonder they were excited to make the playoffs as the No. 1 Wildcard for the south half.

The Green Wave received the opening kickoff, but that was about the most optimistic thing to happen in the first half.

The game turned quickly for the Green Waves after they fumbled the third snap of the game with 10:30 on the clock, Trinity recovered on the Green Wave’s 23 yard line.

Three plays later, Trinity’s Stevan Ridley scored on a 16-yard run. The PAT was good to give Trinity a 7-0 lead with 9:00 on the first quarter clock. The Saints kept the Green Wave’s offense from scoring in the first quarter and led 21-0.

The second quarter was much of the same as Trinity scored 27 unanswered points.

The fourth touchdown of the night was in the air by the Saints when Ridley threw a 23-yard pass to the end zone and Wells Middleton caught it with 9:50 on the clock. After scoring two more touchdowns, the Saints were up at the half 48-0 over the Green Wave.

The Green Wave finally got on the scoreboard with 6:55 left in the third quarter. Junior quarterback Jim Tyler Dalrymple scored on a 25-yard run. The two-point conversion failed. The Saints led 48-6.

The Green Wave defense did not allow the Saints to score in the third quarter.

When the fourth quarter started, the momentum started to turn for the Green Wave, but there was not enough time left for a come back. With 5:03 on the clock, Dalrymple scored on a 17-yard run. The two point conversion was good by Jim Beard.

With 3:34 left in the game, Josh Garrott scored on a 58-yard pass from Dalrymple. Brandon White’s two point conversion was good cutting the lead 48-22.

The Saints scored once more with 1:12 remaining in the game for the final score of 55-22 Saints.
The Green Wave ended the game with 133 yards rushing on 28 carries and they were five of nine passing for 72 yards for a total offense of 205 yards. They threw two interceptions. The Green Wave returned seven kickoffs for 99 yards for 304 all-purpose yards.

The Green Wave leading rusher for the night was Evan West with 69 yards on seven carries. Dalrymple had 12 carries for 38 yards and two touchdowns.

Dakota Mabry had seven carries for 21 yards and one reception for four yards. Nick Douglas had two carries for five yards. Josh Garrott had four receptions for 59 yards and one for a touchdown. Blane Joyner had two receptions for nine yards.

Evan West had two kickoff returns for 51 yards. Nick Douglas had four for 31 yards, and Geri Lamm had one for 17 yards.

The Green Wave only logged five first downs in the game. They lost two fumbles, and were penalized four times for 35 yards. Dalrymple kicked six punts for 217 yards, averaging 36 yards per punt.

Trinity ended the game with 278 rushing yards on 31 carries. They were six of six for 100 passing yards for a total offense of 378. They had four kickoff returns for 77 yards and one punt return for four yards to give 459 all purpose yards.

The Saints had six first downs for the game and were penalized seven times for 70 yards. They also lost two fumbles. Their leading rusher was Ridley who had 11 carries for 159 yards with three touchdowns.