Tigers take down Hornets  in a battle in the Delta

By Brad Greer
Blaine Ware could not have picked a better time to kick his first field goal of the young season Friday night against Greenville.
With South Panola trailing 20-19, the junior calmly booted a 25-yard field goal at the 4:04 mark of the fourth quarter to give the Tigers a gritty 22-20 road victory.
South Panola improved to 2-1 on the year while Greenville remained winless at 0-3.
Special teams played a key role in the Tiger win as Ware’s game winning kick was set up by Jaylen Heffner’s blocked punt at the Greenville 36 yard-line. Morris House gave South Panola a 7-6 lead on a 55-yard punt return late in the first quarter.
Greenville in turn scored one of its touchdowns by recovering a botched punt in the endzone to take a 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
With starting quarterback Patrick Shegog absent due to an injury, South Panola turned to the duo of Kanoda Lewis and Bo Williams to direct the South Panola offense.
Lewis got the starting nod under center and guided the Tigers to a seven play; 74-yard drive that was capped by a 28-yard touchdown pass to House with 1:33 remaining in the first half. Greenville still led 14-13 at intermission as the two-point attempt failed.
Lewis finished the night with 47 yards passing and 81 yards rushing on 13 carries.
Williams meanwhile took over in the second half and directed the Tigers on a 16-play; 75-yard scoring drive with Jordan Strong plunging in from one-yard out with 8:57 remaining in the fourth quarter to close the margin to 20-19.
The drive was kept alive by a diving 39-yard pass reception by John Railey on 4th-and-10 from the Hornet 40 yard-line. Williams completed 7-of-13 passes for 85 yards.
South Panola overcame three turnovers, two of which came in the third quarter. The Tigers received the second half kickoff and were on the doorsteps of taking the lead but fumbled on the Greenville 14-yard line. The Hornets proceeded to drive 86 yards to take a 20-13 lead.
Greenville looked to add to their lead on its following possession but an offensive interference call negated a touchdown pass.
“Tonight was a real struggle. We didn’t know until Thursday that Patrick wasn’t going to play, but Kanoda and Bo came in and did real good jobs. We had a few key injuries during the game plus we overcame some turnovers. I was proud of the way the kids never lost focus and hung in there when they very easily could have folded the tent. I hope we can get well for our home opener next week against a really good Clarksdale team,” said South Panola head coach Ricky Woods.
The Tigers as a team rushed 36 times for 151 yards while Greenville out-gained the Tigers 314-283 on the night. The Hornets gained 256 yards through the air and rushed for 58 yards on the ground.
Quin Bradford followed Lewis in the rushing column with 67 yards on 18 carries while adding one catch for two yards.
Railey caught three passes for 50 yards with House and Barry Flowers catching two passes each for 28 and 13 yards. Lewis reeled in one reception for 20 yards while Williams caught one pass for 19 yards. A. J. Norwood punted twice for a 31 yard average.
“I really wasn’t that nervous coming in at quarterback. I had played a few snaps in the first half at receiver so that kind of got my feet wet,” said Williams.
“I just knew I had a job to do and the offensive line played great the entire game. This was a total team effort tonight,” said Williams.
Sophomore linebacker Jaqualin Gillespie led the Tiger defense with eight tackles while Alexander Jordan and Derrick Cunningham followed with five stops.
Wade Thornton and Lakendrick Willingham chipped in with four tackles with Willingham adding a quarterback sack. Keshaun Lantern provided three tackles. Defensive tackle Robert Hentz registered two tackles-for-loss and a quarterback sack.