South Panola continued to put up big offensive numbers as the 2023 high school football season draws to a close, rolling up 300 yards and scoring nearly 50 points Friday, Oct. 27, on the road in Olive Branch.

The Tigers beat the Conquistadores 49-27 to improve to 8-1 on the season and 4-0 in 6A Region 1 play. Olive Branch dropped to 2-7 and 0-4.

South Panola will close out regular season play Thursday, Nov. 2,  at Grenada in a matchup that will feature two one-loss teams and both undefeated in region play.. The game is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m.

“We have a short week and we are playing for a divisional championship Thursday night so it should be a great atmosphere and a really good game,” Oakley said.

Last week Grenada beat Saltillo to also improve to 8-1 and 4-0 on the season. The Chargers are coached by Michael Fair, formerly of Lafayette High School, and well known to the Tigers staff. 

Former SP head coach Ricky Woods, who retired from full-time coaching after the 2022 season, is an assistant at Grenada. 

For Grenada, senior quarterback Charlie Fair is having a solid season completing 131-of-228 passes for 1,628 yards and 11 touchdowns to go with just four interceptions before the Saltillo game.

Junior running back Macaleb Taylor has rushed 201 times for 1,169 yards and 11 touchdowns. As a receiver, Taylor has 10 catches for 152 yards and four touchdowns.

Sophomore Zayion Cotton is the leading receiver with 25 catches for 468 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Zayvon Herron also has 25 catches for 283 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, the Chargers have not allowed a point in region play so far this season. 

They are led by junior linebacker Jahmani Washington with 85 tackles and five tackles for losses. 

Senior linebacker Sema’j Avery has 47 tackles followed by junior linebacker Jatavious Lewis with 44 tackles and senior defensive tackle Aaron Travis has 42 tackles and nine tackles for losses.

In the Olive Branch game, the Conquistadors scored first on a touchdown pass before South Panola answered with a 55 yard rushing touchdown by Mykel Allen. On their next possession, Michael Johnson completed a 33 yard pass to Marcus Christon for a go-ahead score  in the second quarter.

Just before halftime, Anderrious Flowers put the Tigers ahead by two touchdowns with a 25-yard interception return to the endzone. Olive Branch made the game close with a touchdown before halftime and the game was 21-14 at intermission.

Both teams scored once in the third quarter and the final period started with a 28-21 score. The Tigers won the game with three touchdowns in the fourth while the Conquistadors managed just one.

“We didn’t play as well as we wanted to defensively,” said head coach Brooks Oakley. “It’s probably been week two against Oxford since we’ve seen somebody with a really good passing game, but it’s something we can teach off of and get better.”

South Panola was led offensively by Allen, who gained 137 yards on 15 carries and scored two touchdowns. Johnson had two touchdowns on the ground and 123 yards on nine attempts. 

Johnson was 5-of-6 for 120 yards and two touchdowns through the air. Christon and Darren Moore each had receiving touchdowns, of 33 and 62 yards respectively.

Tigers kicker Xavier McFadden connected on all seven PATs in the game.

Olive Branch held the ball 29:22 of the game compared to South Panola at 18:38, but were penalized nine times for 103 yards to the Tigers’ 78 yards on eight infractions.

The Tigers rolled up 293 rushing yards while holding the Conquistadors to 50. Olive Branch was 27-of-49 for 378 yards through the air, and the Tigers had 120 on Johnson’s 5-for-6 showing.

In total, Olive Branch ran 72 plays, amassing 378 yards for a 5.3 per play average. South Panola snapped the ball just 36 times, but gained 413 yards for a hefty 11.5 average.

On defense, senior Antraviyun Clark had a big night, recording nine tackles, followed by Willie Butler with seven, and Jay Gleaton with five. Marques Curry, Jamarcus Flowers, and Kaleb Bland had five stops each.