| South Panola Band Drum Majors |
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South Panola band drum majors Holly Henning (l) and Kelley Reinemann direct the band on the field and in the stands. The two plan to lead the band to superior ratings at the marching competition in Grenada tomorrow.
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| SP Slow-Pitch Seniors |
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| South Panola slow pitch seniors were honored Tuesday at the last home game by head coach Kim Wilson (c) and the rest of the team.
Seniors include (l to r) Kelley Capwell, Angela Waller, Wilson, Jessica Anderson and Brandis Shaw.
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| Sardis Lake Visitor Information Center Hosts Open House and Ribbon Cutting Event |
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Representatives from COE Vicksburg District-Operations Division recently attended the Sardis Lake Visitor Information Center Open House. Shown from left during the ribbon cutting ceremony are: Frank Walker, Manager, Sardis Project Management Office; Alton Pollan, Resource Manager, Sardis Lake Field Office; Keith Matthews, Project Designer (Information Management Office – Vicksburg District); Mac Montgomery, Chief, Natural Resources and Environmental Compliance Section; and James Ross, Chief, Project Resources Management Branch.
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| Sardis Lake Field Office recently held an Open House and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for its new Visitor Information Center. Visitors and guests attending the event were encouraged to visit the various information booths manned by representatives of the Miss. Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, the Panola County Historical and Genealogical Society, and the Corps of Engineers. Corps personnel distributed information about water safety, the environment and forestry practices.
Following the ribbon cutting, resource manager Alton Pollan invited those in attendance to tour the information center where Park Ranger Cowan Hunter interpreted the various exhibits. As visitors and guests moved passed the displays, they were directed to the conference room where refreshments were provided. Once everyone had been served, Mr. Pollan presented certificates of appreciation to two people responsible for the design and construction of the information center: Keith Matthews, project designer, and Josh Archey, carpentry specialist.
During his introduction of Matthews, Pollan said it was almost two years ago that he had a vision for a more modern and inviting reception area for the Sardis Lake Field Office. He recalled bringing his employees together and asking them to submit designs for a new layout of the office; one that would incorporate areas for displays relating to the functions of the Sardis Lake Project.
Pollan said he quickly realized the task before him was far too complicated for a group of novices to accomplish. As a result, he contacted Keith Matthews, a visual information specialist, at the Corps of Engineers District Office in Vicksburg.
According to Pollan, Matthews made several visits to Sardis to learn more about the functions of the lake and to study the area that was to be transformed. Eventually, a floor plan was developed and work began. Slowly over the course of several months, a wonderful metamorphosis occurred. What had once been a dark, drab reception area and office space was now a beautiful and inviting information center.
At this point, Pollan asked Matthews to come forward and receive his award. Archey was then recognized for his willingness to work in tandem with Matthews and both were commended for their expert skills and creativity. Pollan closed by extending his grateful appreciation for a job well-done.
Sardis Lake’s newest attraction was created to provide an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere for greeting visitors seeking assistance and/or needing information about the lake. The self-guided exhibits were fashioned to educate and inform visitors about the diverse functions of the Sardis Lake Project and to encourage visitor safety and public stewardship of the project’s resources.
The Sardis Lake Visitor Information Center is open Monday ? Friday from 7:00 am until 3:30 pm. For more information, call Sardis Lake Field Office at 662-563-4531.
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| Enid Lake Celebrates Nat’l Hunting and Fishing Day |
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| Visitors watch as Rainbow demonstrates his coon treeing abilities. |
By Doyle Morrow
Enid Lake Park Ranger
Enid Lake Celebrated Hunting and Fishing Day Saturday, October 2, 2004 in conjunction with National Hunting and Fishing Day, which was held September 25, 2004. The event was held to increase awareness of outdoor recreational opportunities, to recognize the important roles outdoorsmen and women have played in preserving and improving our natural resources, to introduce younger generations to the outdoors, and to pass on the skills and knowledge to make sure we do not lose our precious natural resources that previous generations have worked so hard to protect.
Rainbow, a coon-hunting dog owned by Joel Rivers of Batesville, was one of the star attractions at the National Hunting and Fishing Day event sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Enid Lake. Approximately 450 visitors were on hand throughout the day to watch as Rainbow treed a caged-coon in the wooded area of the Riverview Recreation Area. Other events held during the day were retriever demonstrations by Jimmy Chandler of Gator Trax Boats. Also, enjoyed by the younger visitors was the Casting Contest sponsored by the Corps of Engineers at Enid Lake. Youngsters showed off their casting skills by trying to cast their baits into three life saving throw rings that were placed at different locations in the old river run. Prizes were donated by Dr. Ronal Roberson from Charleston, MS and by Bass Pro Shops in Memphis, TN. Visitors of all ages were given opportunities to hone their archery skills during the 3-D target shooting that was sponsored by the Southern Traditional Archery Association and the Lofton Classic Bow Hunters. Kirkland Boats of Charleston, Performance Marine of Batesville, and Jimmy Chandler’s Gator Trax Boats all displayed a variety of boats that were of interest to hunters and anglers.
Along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Enid Lake several other vendors and exhibitors manned educational booths and displays during the event. Andi Layman, with the MS Wildlife Foundation brought several of her critters and fowl to use for educational training, the Enid Lake Volunteers for Waste Management handed out brochures and information concerning Clean Up Day 2005 that is scheduled in February, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks set up an electronic target shooting range, John Hubbard held an ATV Safety Clinic, Jerry Griffin with the Yalobusha Natural Resource Conservation Service discussed soil erosion and small pond construction, Hood Equipment of Batesville displayed several tractors and a variety of farm implements, Bell’s Polaris of Grenada displayed the latest in All Terrain Vehicles, Jack Herring of Madison, MS displayed his wood carvings, Whitetail Taxidermy of Como, MS displayed animal mounts, provided face painting for the youth, and demonstrated knife sharpening skills, and the Panola County Co-op of Batesville provided information on food plots and seeds.
Visitors had a wide variety of mouth watering treats to partake of with concession stands set up by Oakland Volunteer Fire Department, Enid Shores Community House Committee, Enid Volunteer Fire Department, Pope Volunteer Fire Department, and the South Panola Lions Club.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would like to express their appreciation to everyone who attended and participated in this event. Plans are already in the works for next year’s event which promises to be even bigger and better. If you would like to be an exhibitor, vendor, or set up a display please contact Mike Robinson at the Enid Lake Field Office at (662) 563-4571.
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Bobo Makes Impression at MSU
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By Myra Bean
Sports Editor
psports@panolian.com
He may be a freshman but Batesville’s own Mario Bobo is making waves at Mississippi State University on the football team.
Bobo worked his way this summer into a starting position on special teams. Three games later he worked his way into a starting position as right cornerback. The last two weeks he has been listed as second on the depth chart behind David Heard, but he still gets a lot of minutes on the field.
Bobo so impressed the SEC when MSU was blown out by LSU Sept. 25, he was named the player-of-the-game.
He had six tackles and a forced fumble against LSU.
So far for the season, Bobo has 15 solo tackles and five assists. He has caused two fumbles and had one tackle for lost yardage.
Mississippi State returns home this weekend for homecoming against Univesity of Alabama-Birmingham. Game time is 1:30 p.m.
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By Myra Bean
Sports Editor
psports@panolian.com
Though the South Panola Tigers continue to move up in the national polls, the competition is not falling by the wayside easily. The No. 21 USA Today and Tony Poll Tigers have a contest before them with the Columbus Falcons, a game that cannot be counted until it is played.
The Tigers are still the unanimous pick for the No. 1 spot in Mississippi. In the iHigh.com National Poll, the Tigers moved to the No. 23 spot from 25 last week.
Columbus, under new head coach Rusty Funk is 3-3 overall, 1-1 district. Last week Columbus fell to Southaven 21-17. The only touchdown for the was a kickoff return for the Falcons. The Falcons kicked three field goals.
The Tigers are moving along just fine with a 6-0 overall, 2-0 district record. They have scored 275 points this season and allowed 53.
The only other team in 1-5A still undefeated is West Point, who plays the Olive Branch Conquistadors tonight in West Point.
The Tigers have their Dooms Day Defense to thank for some of their success. Because the defense has allowed only five touchdowns this season in six games. Punt return allowed two against Clarksdale and one fumble was returned for a score.
Marcus Johnson leads the team in tackles with 36 for the year. Johnson has five tackles for lost yardage, one forced turnover and three sacks.
Other players with over 20 tackles include John Jerry, 28, Santarious Armstead, 24, Leroy Diggs, 26, Kerry Hoskins, 23 with four interceptions, Travis Sanford, 20 with five interceptions; and Cedric Wright, 21 with one interception and three knockdown passes.
Brandon Burnett has really come on strong in the last few weeks registering 16 quarterback hurries along with his 13 tackles, three quarterback sacks and two fumble recoveries.
The defense has intercepted 17 passes this season and scored four touchdowns.
The history between South Panola and Columbus is varied. Columbus has committed some suprises in past years and South Panola has retaliated by scoring 50 points on the Falcons. Last year South Panola won 40-6.
Kickoff will be on Tiger field at 7 p.m.
By Angie Ledbetter
Contributing Writer
The North Delta Green Wave will travel to Marianna, Arkansas to take on the 1A Lee Academy Cougars in a non- conference game tonight.
The Green Wave are 7-0 overall, 3-0 district. The Cougars are 6-1 overall and 3-1 district. Their only loss came when they were defeated by Desoto 24-18 on September 3. They have scored 266 points on their opponents and have only allowed 88 points. They are coming off a big win over Rossville, Tennessee last week, defeating them 38-10. The week before on September 24, they defeated Marvell 42-20.
They are under the direction of Head Coach John Holcombe. They have a roster of 23 players with nine seniors.
Green Wave Head Coach Rick Johnston expressed that everyone was somewhat forgetting that Lee was 6-1. "They have a quarterback, Landon Bullard, who is a big play maker," said Johnston. "We are going to have our hands full containing him. Bullard is 5’11 and weighs 210."
"They also have a wide receiver that is about 6’4, 6’5, a real big kid," said Johnston. "They just kind of throw the football up like a jump ball situation and he just goes up and gets it. We have got some things that we have got to get addressed with them for sure."
"They are going to spread us out," said Johnston. "They are going to run out of the shotgun most of the night or all the night. They have got a few running plays, 2, 3, or 4 at the maximum. They are just going to throw the football all over the place. We are going to have to be in the right places and play some disciplined defense. Hopefully, we can get some pressure on their quarterback. We certainly are going to try to make him make some decisions that are not good ones, hopefully."
Tune in to FM 106.9 for the pregame show at 7:00 p.m. The game starts at 7:30 p.m.
Directions: From Mississippi: After crossing the Mississippi River bridge at Helena on Hwy. 49, turn left at the stop light. Stay on 49 Bypass for approx. 5 to 6 miles. At the 3rd red light, turn left onto Hwy. 49. Travel approx. 6 miles to Walnut Corner, then turn right onto Hwy. 1. Travel approx. 15 miles taking Hwy. 1 bypass around Marianna. Turn left at the 1st red light onto Hwy. 79. Travel approx. 2 miles and turn right onto Hwy. 243. School is approx. 1 mile on the left.
By Myra Bean
Sports Editor
psports@panolian.com
The competition is about to heat up for the North Panola Cougars (2-4 overall, 2-1 district). That second set of numbers will be tested tonight as the Tigers travel to Cleveland to face the East Side Trojans, just down the road from Delta State University.
The Trojans finished last season (4-6), but early in the season looked like a brand new team. They started with a 5-0 record, but fell hard to Senatobia last week 32-15.
East Side is now 5-1 overall, 1-1 district. East Side has scored 171 points and allowed 83 points this year.
North Panola has scored 104 points and allowed 161. The Cougars are coming off a big 35-14 win over district foe Rosa Fort last Friday.
The Cougars racked up 419 yards of total offense, including 267 passing yards by quarterback Perry Trammell. Trammell also rushed for 42 yards.
Leading receiver was Dexter Thomas with eight catches for 198 yards.
Leading rusher was Tecory Walton for 99 yards on 12 carries, followedby Roderick Jefferson with 23 yards on three carries and Larry Burdette with 13 yards on three carries.
The Cougars led 20-6 going into halftime. All points were scored in the second quarter. Thomas scored on three passes from Trammell. Albert Johnson kicked two of three extra point attempts.
In the third quarter, Tunica scored to cut the lead 20-14. The Cougars put the icing on the cake with 15 points in the fourth quarter on a run by Walton and Trammell.
Jefferson converted a 2-point pass from Trammell and Johnson kicked the extra point for the game.
Even though the Cougars are the underdogs going into the game, Cougar head coach Demetrius Hill said this game can belong to the Cougars if they "eliminate" their mistakes and do what they practice.
"Everybody has been coming to practice this week," Hill said. "If we get the three guys to step up like they did last week, we should win."
Kickoff is 7 p.m.
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| Turf Colors Bring Up War Stories |
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 By wILLIAM cORRERO
You might have heard me refer to "war stories" every now and then and last week’s story about the eagle can be classified as one.
Last weekend one of the few amusing things to be found down in Baton Rouge, or Red Stick as I call it, was an interesting one about that awful looking blue artificial turf up at Boise State in Idaho. It plays the devil for most TVs since it is so hard to balance all the colors in the game.
I’m not going to even attempt to go into anymore detail about that but it does have to do with the physics of the color spectrum. It was explained to me a while back but, well, you know how it is when you get older.
Anyhow, I brought up that field color after seeing a bit of a game from Boise State on ESPN the Friday night before. A couple of the officials in the MSU at LSU game had worked up there years before and said the school has a problem at times with the dead geese and ducks found on the field.
It seems they see the wide expanse of blue as they fly over and thinking it is water, decide to take a break on it. So basically it ends up being a bunch of crash landings with fatal outcomes. It’s good thing no one tried to sell Auburn on some blue artificial turf because their eagles sure would go crazy trying to find a fish swimming in it.
I can’t imagine anyone’s reasoning in a turf color other than green. Ought to be illegal.
Sometimes I think other things associated with the game ought to be illegal. One is having left-handed quarterbacks or left-footed kickers. Before you southpaw types start hating me, it’s not personal. Our mechanics have the Referee’s position on the throwing arm side of the quarterback or the kicker’s kicking foot side. Actually, there is one exception (naturally) and that’s on a place kick for a try or field goal. Then we get on the side facing the holder to better see the ball.
The procedure is to scout the teams as they warm up before the game and know which number is left-handed or left-footed. Even then, it will sometimes take a few passes or a few kicks before I finally get it right.
The reasoning is to be able to see if the quarterback makes a forward pass or if he fumbles the ball. The importance of that determination is why the SEC has Referees get almost on the same yard line as the quarterback when we see he is going to pass. It is much easier to see and rule on whether or not it is an incomplete pass or a fumble. You just can’t see the quarterback’s arm motion from behind him.
It is a tough place to be when he drops back to pass and then decides to run toward my side of the field. Then we have to retreat straight back to avoid getting caught up in the play. But the benefits far outweigh that little inconvenience because it has been proven to me many times.
It works the same way on punts, too. Being on his kicking foot side and even with where he kicks the ball from is the only place to see if a defender gets any touch on the ball just after it leaves the kicker’s foot.
If a defender even gets just a slight touch of the ball and then lands on the kicker, he is not guilty of roughing the kicker by virtue of that touch on the ball in his attempt to block the kick.
So that’s why it is critical to see just what does or doesn’t happen to the ball. If everything goes well with the kick and it’s away, we are to go to the spot where the ball was kicked from to see the ball in case it goes out of bounds in flight.
You’ve seen the deep official walking back along the sideline with his arm up when a punt goes out of bounds. The Referee will look with his arm up in the air also and then signal when the deep official is on the white hat’s sight line where the ball went out.
One part of being an official that can get simply irritating is counting the offensive team. I find myself doing that out of habit when just watching one on TV.
I will typically count to eleven at least one hundred and forty times in a game. Both the Referee and the Umpire count the offense while the deep officials do the defense on every play and signal with a closed fist held out to one side. It can get hairy when I get 12 or more because then it’s time to do a quick re-count before dropping a flag. We are not supposed to point as we count either. Don’t worry, I won’t try to show off and count for you here.
Got what should be a couple of good ones coming up with Auburn at Tennessee and then down between the hedges with Tennessee at Georgia. Just more of the best college football in the world. I can’t wait. It doesn’t get any better. See you next week. |
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