Tigers and Falcons to battle for No. 2 spot

By Brad Greer
With two weeks remaining in the regular season, South Panola (5-5;4-1) looks  to wrap up a second place finish in Region 1-6A tonight at Columbus as they take on the high-flying Falcons in a 7 p.m kickoff.
Both teams are coming off different results  last week as South Panola hammered Southaven 44-7 while Columbus fell to Horn Lake 44-35.
The Tigers will certainly have their hands full with  Falcon offensive unit  that is averaging 294 yards rushing while scoring 36 points per game, but on the flip side are surrendering nearly 27 points per outing.
Columbus (5-4; 3-2) are led by a host of talent on offense including Dandy Dozen running back Kylin Hill. The Mississippi State commitment has rushed for 1,179 and 16 touchdowns on the season but is also a threat catching the ball according to Tiger head coach Lance Pogue.
“He (Hill) is no doubt the best running back we will have faced this season other than Cam Akers. He is your prototypical Southeastern Conference running back that is what you would call a downhill runner. He is 210 pounds  has great speed and can break tackles and also can catch the ball out of the backfield. He is the total package,” said Pogue.
Columbus has more playmakers in their arsenal as quarterback C. J. Gholar (5’9”-160) has thrown for 1,464 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season. Senior running back Kendre Conner (6’0”-225) has 635 yards and six touchdowns. Senior Mike McCleod and junior Patrick Jackson are Gholar’s main receiving targets.
“Columbus is going to make some plays, they are just too talented not to. Our main goal is not to give up that big play at a crucial time and keep their offense off the field,” said Pogue.
“ I feel like we played our best game offensively of the year last week and if we can keep that momentum going and improve on some of the things we did against Southaven I feel good about of  chances. We ran the ball well and connected on some pass plays and if we can repeat that tonight and get outstanding play from our defense like we have been we can be successful tonight,” said Pogue.
Led by the offensive line of Desmond Shegog, Tabarious Evans, Jamaul Lofton and Thomas Turner, the Tigers rolled up 340 yards of offense in last week’s victory over Southaven. Quarterback Patrick Shegog threw touchdown passes of 28 yards to Quin Bradford and 23 yards to Jordan Strong.
A. J. Polk led the South Panola defense with six tackles while Robert Hentz accounted for two fumble recoveries.