By Myra Bean

South Panola High School has announced Gehrig Griffin as head soccer coach for the boys and girls.

Griffin is a South Panola alumnus who graduated in 2019. While at South Panola, he was a standout baseball and soccer player. After high school, he received his associate’s degree at Northwest and his bachelor’s in criminal justice administration from Mississippi State University.

After graduating he took a job as the 10^th grade history teacher at South Panola and helped coach the girls’ soccer team to the playoffs last season. The former coach moved to Wisconsin which opened the door for Griffin to realize one of his dreams.

“I’m excited,” Griffin said. “It has always been a dream of mine when I figured I wanted to coach, to come back and coach at South Panola and soccer which I love. So, I’m excited to take over and see what we can do.”

Unfortunately, the boys’ soccer team did not fare as well last season, but Griffin is excited to help rebuild that team and bring excitement back for playing that he enjoyed while a player.

Jamie Montgomery will be one of the assistant coaches along with another coach who has not been approved yet.

Griffin and staff will keep the girls building on what they already have going with senior leaders Hailey Heafner, midfield and goalie Emily Shegog at the helm.

Griffin describes Heafner as “one of the leaders. a great player and a great kid.”

Shegog makes a big difference here, according to Griffin. “They will be fantastic leaders for us.”

“For the boys there is Dermy Araujo,” Griffin said. “He will be a senior next year and a big leader.”

Griffin said he is just super excited to get things going.

Tryouts are April 16.