By Myra Bean
Riding a 25-game win streak, the South Panola Tiger team has claimed the 2015 district championship.

South Panola (10-0 overall, 6-0 district) took down Columbus 35-13 Friday.
Senior Haley Reid was crowned Homecoming queen while alumni from 46 classes celebrated across the street. Approximately 4,000 former classmates returned home to make the weekend a more epic event than last year. At the playing of the National Anthem by the superior rated South Panola band, the classes released balloons in memories of fallen classmates.

Shana Smith, along with Mesha Madison, Linda Ellis-Jones and Erick Spears, hosted the event for the second year and have plans to make next year even better.

Upcoming
South Panola will host Desoto Central (6-5, 2-4) in the final district game of the season Thursday night. South Panola will hold senior night.

Other district games ending the regular season Friday night are Columbus at Hernando, Horn Lake at Southaven and Olive Branch at Tupelo. Olive Branch (6-4, 4-2) is currently in third place in the district and Tupelo (5-5, 3-3) is currently in fourth place.

The coach’s call-in show with head coach Lance Pogue will air Wednesday night from 6 to 7 p.m.
The game will broadcast on WBLE 100.5 FM beginning at 6 p.m. with kickoff at 7 p.m. Video streaming will be available through www.panolian.com click on the SP Tiger Den link to the right or audio stream on the left. Also videostreaming is available through www.sptigerden.com and audio stream thorugh www.panola.com.

South Panola vs. Columbus
Columbus (suffered its first district loss at the hands of the Tigers to claim the second place in the district.

The Tigers’ defense took things up a notch this week, claiming two turnovers in the first quarter. Stevon Hill recovered a fumble and Kentravious Benson pulled down his first interception of the season, the team’s 17th of the year. Benson returned the ball to the Falcon seven-yard line.
Senior running back Oluwain Hoskins capitalized on the interception with a seven-yard run with 5:35 left in the quarter. Steven Collins kicked all five of his PAT attempts.

Hoskins scored two more touchdowns on the night while senior athlete Demetrius Market scored two touchdowns on the evening.

Hoskins scored on a three-yard run from the wildcat, right up the middle, with 18 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Tigers a 21-7 lead going into halftime.

He then scored on a wildcat play on fourth-down-and-1 for a 37-yard touchdown with 9:11 left in the third quarter for the 28-7 lead and the only score in the third quarter.

Market scored on the Tigers’ first down on the first possession of the second quarter from the wildcat. He sprinted for 56 yards with 9:55 left in the first half to give the Tigers a 14-7 lead after Colins’ PAT.

Market scored the last touchdown of the game on a 49-yard run with 7:10 left in the game to take at the 35-13 lead. Collins’ final PAT capped a two-play, 52-yard drive.

Columbus scored in the second quarter to avoid the shutout on a three-yard run with 10:16 left. The PAT tied the score at seven to cap a seven-play, 68-yard drive.

Columbus also scored in the fourth quarter with 11:51 left in the game on a one-yard run. The PAT failed even after a Tiger penalty moved the ball to the one and a half-yard line.

The Tigers posted 329 total yards, including 287 rushing and 42 yards passing. Hoskins led the rushers with 140 yards, on 12 carries and three touchdowns. Market had 16 carries for 139 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter.