South Panola faces rival Olive Branch

By Brad Greer
One of the fiercest rivalries in Mississippi high school football resumes tonight as South Panola travels to Olive Branch in a Region 1-6A clash beginning at 7 p.m
And while both teams have gotten off to slow starts, the mention of the blue and gold still seems to get Tiger fans blood boiling.
South Panola leads all-time 25-8 in a series that dates back to 1979 when both teams were members of the Chickasaw Valley Conference. The Tigers have won the first four meetings including last year’s 47-29 victory in Batesville.
The Conquistadors enter tonight’s game sporting a 0-5 record after last week’s 27-3 district opening loss to Southaven. Olive Branch is led by first  year head coach Pete Hurt
Sophomore quarterback Cole Catledge (5’9”- 170) directs the ‘ Quisters offence. Catledge is 27-of-70 passing for 297 yards with five interceptions and one touchdowns.
Joining Catledge in the backfield will be senior running back Tarik Travis, Jr. (5’ 10”- 175) who has 395 yards on 63 carries and two touchdowns. Cameron Pleas (5’11”- 145) leads the Olive Branch  receiving corps with 13 catches for 156 yards.
The Olive Branch defence is spearheaded by A.J Henderson and Adrian Gainer who both have a team-leading 38 tackles on the season.
South Panola (2-4;1-0) meanwhile picked up there first district win last week with a 7-0 nailbiter over Horn Lake. The only score came in the first quarter as Jordan Strong reeled in a 43 touchdown pass from quarterback Pattrick Shegog that proved to be the difference maker.
“Our defence played our best game of the season last week and if we can get that kind of effort from them and get a few positive drives from our offense I feel like we can put ourselves in position to be successful. But the main key is to sustain some drives on offense and keep our defense fresh and off the field,” said South Panola head coach Lance Pogue.
“ Their a lot like us as being young overall. They have had trouble putting points on the board, like us, but they are capable of putting things together on any given night. We just hope it’s not tonight they get everything clicking. The were leading MUS going into the fourth quarter before losing 40-21 so the talent is there,” said Pogue.
Senior Jamian Johnson leads the South Panola ground game with 372 yards on 81 carries. Shegog is second on the team with 60 carries for 179 yards and three scores while throwing for 372 yards and five touchdowns.
Strong leads the squad in receiving with 21 catches for 262 yards and three touchdowns.
A pair of senior linebackers lead the South Panola’s defense as A.J.Polk has registered 28 tackles with D.J.Hall adding 24 stops. O’Bryan Goodson is third on the squad with 22 stops with eight behind the line of scrimmage.
Other games in district play tonight include: Southaven ( 5-1; 1-0) at Hernando( 4-1; 1-0); Desoto Central ( 4-2; 0-1) visits Horn Lake ( 5-1; 0-1) and Tupelo (5-0; 1-0) travels to Columbus ( 3-2; 1-0).