Cougars to face Dragons in tonight’s hot rival game

By Ike House
North Panola will start a new season in the sense of them starting district play with a rival game against Palmer. The Cougars are entering district play undefeated and are off to the best start since the playoff system was introduced.
The Cougars are also looking to keep their streak going and even though the coaches do not want the players to think about it, fans are embracing the 6-0 start the Cougars have created.
Besides the “Brick by Brick” motto the coaching staff has established throughout the community, the Cougars second most important thing is being 1-0 every rep, every practice and every game.
“At the end of the day we are playing against ourselves and the games on Friday night are just a reflection of how you practice throughout the week,” head coach Carl Diffee said, “I told our guys to let the fans do all the talking and if they want to talk I can’t control that, I only control what my guys do.”
Not only are the Cougars looking to beat a rival team, they are also looking to avenge the team from last season that fell to the Dragons.
The Cougars had a three year win streak against the Dragons and will look to start another streak against them this week.
“Looking back, O’Bannon, Palmer and East Side were our motivation in the offseason. One thing we have done this season different from last year is win games in the fourth quarter and that is something we have to continue to do,” Diffee said “We are in better shape physically and mentally and the kids want to get Palmer back but we can only control that by good practicing and preparation.”
The Cougars were on point last week with 516 total yards, 289 on offense, 69 on defense and 158 on special teams.
They dominated in every phase of the game and will look to continue that trend on Friday against the Dragons.
The young coaching staff of North Panola is consistently putting together a gameplan that gets them over their opponents. Diffee said that air attack opened up the game for them last week and they continued to throw the ball.
He added that the game dictates what happens on Friday and what works early is what they will stick with.
“Palmer presents a physical challenge this week with a big defensive line, the best set of linebackers we have seen all year and some big and rangy secondary players. They have the best defense in our division,” Diffee said “so offensively we will have to take advantage of their alignments.”
The Cougars have their weapons on the outside that transitions from the basketball court to the field in Jamarvis and Jarvis Echols along with Jonathan Harris and Tracy Davis.
Palmer has sort of the same layout with their receivers. They have big physical basketball players that are out wide on Friday night.
“Palmer can attack any inch of the field with deep routes, short screens and a strong inside run game. We have to play gap assisgnments,” Diffee added “they can drop back and any time and throw the ball to their big athletic guys or dunk it down their quick guys and get yards. We trust our guys on those bang bang, 50/50 balls.”
Offense has been talked about a lot in 3A when North Panola comes up but their defense has kept everything in tact and has won games for them this season.
The defensive line of Quinterrious Walls, Brandon Wilbourn, Stan Gross and Demarco Smith has received defensive players of the week two weeks straight. They play as if they found their chemistry and are looking continue the success.
The defense has caused eight turnovers so far this season with four interceptions and four fumble recoveries.
“We challenged those guys this summer and year in and year out no matter what classification, the best team has four guys that can beat the other team’s five lineman,” Diffee said “they have looked good and we have mostly been a bend don’t break defense.”
The Cougars are looking to defeat the Dragons on tonight. They are at home and will be kicking off at 7 p.m. The Cougar fan base has decided to wear grey against the Dragons tonight to support the team.