By Myra Bean

South Panola and North Delta return home tonight for district matchups. North Panola takes its show on the road to Rosa Fort for a district matchup.

North Panola

North Panola will be taking on Rosa Fort in their homecoming game.

North Panola has had its share of downs for the season entering tonight’s contest with an 0-6 overall, 0-2 district record. They have played hard and tough but have not found a way to secure a win.

“It’s easy to get down when you are winless, but they are upbeat and looking forward to Friday night,” Cougar head coach Sean Norwood said.

There have been some games where the Cougars showed a lot of bright spots, especially on defense.

The brightest star on all areas of the team has been Ricky Hunt. Hunt has amassed 2,501 all-purpose yards. He has 584 receiving yards on 35 receptions and 455 yards rushing on 62 carries for a total of 1,039. The other yards come from kicking, punting, kickoff and punt return.

“We are not where I want to be but I have definitely seen improvement,” said Norwood, who celebrated his birthday on Thursday.

Tunica enters the contest with a 6-1 overall, 2-1 district record. Their lone loss was to Center Hill September 24, 15-12. Last week they downed Byhalia 39-22. Their other conference win was to Lewisburg by a score of 28-7 on September 17.

Rosa Fort is led by senior quarterback Bernardrick McKinney who has 888 passing yards this year and 385 rushing yards. He has 12 passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns.

His leading receiver is junior wide receiver James Northern.

Senior running back Patrick Durr is the leading rusher with 512 yards and eight touchdowns.

North Delta

North Delta is celebrating homecoming tonight using a wild west theme: “Wild, Wild Wave for Homecoming: How the game was won.”

The queen will be crowned during halftime.

Head football coach Dan Werner said the players are excited about it being homecoming. This game marks North Delta’s final home game of the regular season. The Green Wave are in sole possession of first place in the district.

If they win tonight and the final game of the regular season against Kirk October 29, they will host the first round of the playoffs on November 5.

West Memphis has given up an average of 41.5 points per game. Hebron is the only team that only scored 20 points on the Black Knights. The closest game West Memphis (0-6 overall, 0-2 district) played was also against Hebron when they lost 20-15.

Of the last three games against Kirk, Indianola and DeSoto, all three teams scored 41 points and two were shutouts, Kirk and Desoto.

Werner said West Memphis is a young team that has had a tough time this season.

“Our motto this season is it doesn’t matter who we play, we will play the best we can,” Werner said.

He reported that senior offensive/defensive lineman Tyler Toole had pins put in his hand and will not play tonight. There are also three or four more players who are banged up that are questionable for the game, according to Werner.

Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.

South Panola

The South Panola Tigers (6-0 overall, 2-0 district) welcome the embattled Columbus Falcons to Tiger Field at Robert H. Dunlap Stadium for a 1-6A District Showdown.

Columbus (2-4 overall, 0-2 district) has always played hard. Tiger head coach Lance Pogue remembers back to 2007 when the Tigers were down 14-0 at halftime and had to claw themselves back to a win.

This season Columbus got a new head football coach in Tony Stanford.

“They have run hot and cold throughout the season,” Pogue said. “They are good looking in uniform and you see the potential.”

Last week, Columbus fell to the Southaven Chargers 35-14 in the league bout.

Though their record is subpar, Pogue said they have to be ready to play.

“We’re ready to play,” he said.

Pogue gave an update on the team and where it stands as far as progress.

“As a coach, I want them to be as good as they can be,” he said. “We are where we should be this time of year in performance, attitudes and leadership. I am proud of that. We are on solid ground.”

Pogue reported everyone is healthy. He hopes they gain control of the game early on so he can give as many players a chance to play as possible.

“They practice every day so I think they deserve a chance to play,” Pogue said.

This is South Panola’s third home game of the season with only one regular season home game left. Pogue encourages the crowd to fill the stands and help support the players.

“These are great kids and fun to coach,” he said. “We appreciate all the support we can get.”
Tickets are $7 and will be sold at the high school from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. today. The ticket booth opens at 6 p.m. for the 7 p.m. kickoff.