By Myra Bean

It was a matchup of the two powerhouse teams of North Mississippi when 7A Oxford Chargers hosted 6A South Panola Friday night.

The game lived up to its hype and trash talk. The teams are no strangers to each other being 25 miles apart.

South Panola pulled out the upset over No. 9 Oxford 41-34 in a comeback game no one saw coming.

With the game tied at 34 with 1:54 left, South Panola head coach Brooks Oakley said they were just trying to get the game to overtime.

However, Oxford gave South Panola a chance and they took it. Quarterback Tristan Colenberg found senior wide receiver Marcus Christon about 10 yards down the field to his right. Christon curled, dodged a tackle, broke a tackle and ran 67 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 11.2 seconds left in the game. Wyatt Long’s PAT gave the Tigers the 41-34 lead.

Christon said he did not try to get out of bounds because he wanted to get the game over with.

The game was not over by any means. Oxford quarterback Drew Dean aired a ball down the field, but Tiger defensive back AJ Flowers intercepted the pass to end the game.

Afterwards all Flowers could say was “Thank God.”

The Tigers had a comfortable 19-7 lead going into halftime. Oxford battled back in the third quarter to take the lead 21-19. South Panola’s Long had two PATs blocked.

Oxford’s Kamar Houston broke for a 47-yard run in the third to cut the lead 19-14 and Dean hit a receiver for a 34-yard touchdown pass to take the lead 21-19 with 3: 59 to go in the third.

Oxford padded its lead 28-19 on a 72-yard punt returned for a touchdown by Levi Blount with 11:33 left in the fourth quarter. Michael Thompson kicked four of five PATs.

KJ Flowers scored his third touchdown on a 15-yard run with 9:26 left in the game to bring the Tigers within two, 28-26, after Long’s PAT was good.

Neither team was finished and they both dug deep to see who would come out on top.

South Panola retook the lead, 34-28 on a Marcus Christon two-yard run, set up by Colenberg’s 24-yard run to the two. KJ Flowers’ two-point conversion completed the play.

Oxford’s last touchdown was a one-yard run by Dean that was set up by a 19-yard pass to Blount with 1:55 left in the game to tie the game at 34. The snap for Thompson’s PAT was high and he had to down the ball.

Oakley could barely speak at the end of the game. “I’m going through a lot,” he said. We had some guys grow up. We had to get a stop. We imposed our will in the run game. Number 8 (Christon) does what number 8 does. He is a freaking great player. He’s tougher than anyone on this football team. That’s what seniors do. Big time players make big time plays in big time games.”

South Panola ended the night with 453 total yards, 286 rushing, 167 receiving. KJ Flowers had 12 carries, 65 yards, three touchdowns; AJ Flowers had 10 carries, 29 yards, one touchdown; Christon had eight carries, 70 yards, one rushing touchdown; seven receptions, 138 receiving yards and one touchdown reception; and Colenberg had 13 carries, 110 yards; completed 10 of 18 passes for 167 yards and one touchdown.

Oxford had a total of 280 yards of offense, 109 rushing on 35 carries and 171 completing 17 of 23 passes.

The Tigers (1-1) will host its home opener Friday against Southaven at 7 p.m. Southaven lost to Tupelo 40-13.

Oxford will travel to play Grenada Friday, Sept. 13.