What’s going on with South Panola football?

Friday night they used four quarterbacks, Mario Nash passed the ball and junior tightend David Baker caught a pass.

The South Panola Tigers had a lot to celebrate in their 44-0 win over Memphis Carver Friday night.

The nationally-ranked Tigers (4, 8, 14, 23 in various polls) took their win streak to 49 games.

Also the Tigers went deep into the ranks to let all the players play.

Starting senior quarterback Leroy Diggs was in the game for only a couple minutes and managed to make his presence known.

He scored on a 67-yard run with 10:48 left in the first quarter. Diggs was still having trouble with a hamstring and that was the last he was seen on the field Friday night.

Sophomore quarterback David Renfroe took the reigns and connected on three touchdown passes, one each to Roderick Jefferson, Montez Austin and Mario Nash.

Renfroe completed five of 11 passes for 92 yards. Nash completed one pass for 23 yards.

Xavier Lee ended the game as quarterback for the Tigers.

The Tigers also utilized 11 runners in the game. Some had negative yards but did get valuable playing time.

The Tigers’ second touchdown was a Renfroe to Jefferson 40-yard connection with 2:39 left in the first quarter. Austin scored on a 25-yard pass reception from Renfroe with 1:55 left in the quarter. It was kind of hard to see who actually had the ball, but Austin had control when his feet hit the ground. Renfroe kicked all three PATs for a 21-0 first quarter lead.

In the second quarter, Renfroe found Nash for a six-yard touchdown pass reception with 10:23 on the clock. With the missed PAT, the Tigers took a 27-0 lead into halftime.

The Tigers continued their attack and dominance in the second half. With 9:48 on the third quarter clock, Terrance Griffin ran for a 24-yard touchdown. Then Renfroe put his foot to work for a 29-yard field goal with 2:30 left in the third quarter for a 37-0 lead.

The last score of the game was a 65-yard run by LaReco Lee with 2:54 left. With Renfroe’s PAT, the Tigers shut out Carver.

Diggs led rushers with 67 yards on one carry and a touchdown. Other rushers include Lee, 72 yards on two carries and one touchdown; Griffin, 37 yards on three carries and one touchdown; Renfroe, 34 yards on two carries; Nash, 31 yards on five carries; Reuben Corley, 13 yards on four carries; Quinterious Wright, eight yards on two carries; Jeramie Griffin, five yards on one carry; David Conner, two yards on one carry; Tigg Barksdale, one yard on two carries and Lee, minus 11 yards on six carries.

Renfroe punted once for 29 yards.

On defense, Bud Barksdale intercepted one pass. Twenty-three Tigers recorded at least one tackle. Kevin Young and Joshua Shipp led in tackles with four each. Carl Sowden and Demario Kincaid had three tackles each.

The Tigers begin district play at home Friday night against Horn Lake (0-3). Horn Lake lost in a close one to Corinth Friday night, 14-13.

The ticket booth will open at 6 p.m. General admission is $5. Reserved seating is $7.
 

The North Panola Cougars (0-4) tried and tried, but could not get the advantage over the Holly Springs Hawks Friday night.

The Cougars dropped the first district game 41-25.

The opening kickoff may have given an idea of how the rest of the game would go. Holly Springs took the kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown using only three seconds on the game clock. With the PAT, the Hawks had a quick 7-0 lead.

The Cougars rallied. On their second possession, with help from a Hawks pass interference penalty, the Cougars scored on a five-yard run by Bruce Wilbourn with 3:19 left in the first quarter. Josh Armstrong kicked the PAT to tie the score at seven.

The Cougar defense tried to hold the Hawks, but a receiver was able to get behind the defensive back for a 24-yard touchdown reception with 8:52 left in the second quarter. With the PAT, the Hawks retook the lead 14-7.

With quarterback Perry Trammell back on the field, Trammell hooked up with Wilbourn for a five-yard touchdown pass with 6:43 left in the first half. The missed PAT left the score at 14-13, Hawks.

The Hawks offense caught the Cougar defense sleeping again and scored on a 60-yard pass reception with 4:17 left in the half and went up 21-13 with the PAT.

The Cougars still had some juice pumping.

After the kickoff, the Cougars started on their own 23-yard line and worked the ball down the field. They were going to punt, but the Hawks were penalized for roughing the kicker which brings an automatic first down.

The Cougars did not waste this opportunity as they started from their own 43 yard line.

Trammell used a variety of players to get the ball moving. He completed a 15-yard pass to Jarvis Taylor. Denard Presley moved the ball 11 yards to get a first down. Trammell took the ball himself to the 20 yard line.

Trammell and Wilbourn then hooked up for a 20-yard touchdown pass with 12.7 seconds left in the half. The two-point conversion failed and the score stood 21-19 at halftime.

Both teams scored in the third quarter. Trammell found Wilbourn for an 11-yard touchdown pass to complete the scoring for the Cougars as the PAT failed.

Holly Springs scored on a seven-yard pass in the fourth quarter and also returned an interception for a 30-yard touchdown run to seal the victory.

The Cougars will be traveling to M.S. Palmer in Marks for their second district game. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

Palmer (2-2 overall, 1-0 district) defeated Byhalia (1-3 overall, 0-1 district) 14-12 in district play Friday night.
 

The SEC and several other leagues went deep and purchased the very best equipment for each school. Some conferences, including the Big Ten who is the first ever to use replay, only use a Tivo recorder like you’d find in a lot of homes these days.

At our last meeting in Birmingham the people who put our system together had a demo rig set up in a meeting room for us to all see. It was the first time those outside of the replay officials and our bosses had seen it in action. There are three monitors in the booth with the first showing the direct High Definition feed from the network.

Then there’s a touch-screen computer monitor where up to nine different camera shots of the play are seen and these go to the third monitor that the Replay Official is looking at. The touch-screen is operated by the Communicator who is also an official. The only other person allowed in the replay booth is a technician who is trained by the equipment provider.

The Communicator can bookmark the different clips from the different cameras at just the right section of the questioned play and then give each look to the Replay Official’s monitor. At the heart of the whole operation is a large computer, and for backup we have a Tivo recorder.

So they are looking at each play and if it’s a close play that is reviewable they can punch the button to set off our pagers if they need more time to look at one. The Referee will then signal an official’s timeout and make the announcement that the previous play is under review.

He then goes to the sideline and puts on a headset to talk with the Communicator up in the booth. The goal is two minutes or less and in our trial last season we managed to keep the average under two minutes. But the very best part of it all is that it does work well and has not slowed the games any. In fact, with the new timing and clock rules this season, I’ve had two ESPN games less than three hours, which used to be unheard of previously.

What my friend in the NFL likes is how our Replay Official looks at every play and not just the ones inside of two minutes left in each half. Only the coaches can cause a review to happen at any other time in a NFL game. Just more proof the SEC is the best football anywhere. See you next week.

It was a somber night for the North Delta Green Wave team last Friday for three reasons.
The team fell to Kirk Academy 28-0. The last time that the Green Wave team was shut out was on August 29, 2003, 28-0 against Clarksdale.

Reason two is facing former coach, Rick Johnston, who had coached many of them for several years.

The most important one was a more serious issue with the team. Senior Jon Michael Ware was injured in the third play of the game when he tackled the fullback and landed the wrong way.

A current diagnosis showed a torn MCL (medial collateral ligament) which would put him out of action for about a month.

Ware was scheduled to have a MRI done Monday which would show if he had a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament).

The North Delta football team, the coaching staff, the cheerleaders, the faculty, his family, and all his fans are all praying for Ware’s speedy recovery.

"He is the heart and soul of our team," Green Wave head coach Richard Russo said. "He is one of our best offensive linemen.

"After Jon Michael got hurt, it absolutely deflated the entire team on the field and on the sidelines," Russo continued. "It was a shock to all. It forced us to put some sophomores on the field. They are going to be great football players, but they are inexperienced and they were just not ready."

Russo said losing Ware was hard on him, that it was a blow.

"I said ?oh no’ of all the players," he said. "I love them all, but he and Dakota Mabry are the heart and soul of our defense. To lose either one of them puts a strain on the other guys."

Not only did Russo take losing Ware hard, but losing the game was also hard.

"It makes me physically ill," he said. "It doesn’t make any difference that it was a shutout, whether it is one or 30, I take them hard."

North Delta also had one player transfer to another school last week that contributed to the loss, according to Russo.

"I think that considering that we lost both of our starting outside linebackers in one week’s time, and to only give up 28 points was outstanding," he said. "There was no doubt that losing the two was crucial. Three of their four scores came from picking on our outside linebackers.

"That is an old coaching rule," Russo added. "When you see a starter go out, you immediately run at his replacement and they did a great job at that. That is just smart coaching."

As far as what went wrong in the game, Russo was quick to give credit to the Raiders’ defense.

"For one, hats off to their defense," said Russo. "That was the fastest, most physical defense that we have seen all year. They played hard and they played with a purpose. They sold out to shut it down.

"We did have some long runs," Russo said, looking for a bright spot. "We broke three runs for 30 yards. We were one block away from scoring. You can only see that if you watch the film. It was discouraging to watch the film and see that we were only one block away from scoring three times in the course of the game."

To start the game, the Green Wave won the coin toss and deferred to the second half of the game.

The Green Wave lost their first possession with 5:40 to go in the first quarter on a fumble. Kirk recovered it on the Green Wave 13 yard line and turned it into a touchdown. With the PAT, Kirk led 14-0 at the end of the quarter.

In the second quarter, Kirk scored on a 30-yard run, a 16-yard run, a two-point conversion and a PAT for the 22-0 halftime lead.

Head coach Richard Russo reminded the team of two things at halftime.

"I reminded them of the Marshall game when they didn’t quit regardless of the scoreboard," said Russo. "Also, I reminded them that I guaranteed that Jon Michael would give anything to be out there playing the second half and that they needed to go out there and play with a purpose and they did. They only gave up six more points and that was on a busted defensive assignment. I saw a lot of positive things in the second half."

Kirk attempted a field goal in the second half but it failed. The Raiders did score one last time in the third quarter with 32 seconds on the clock.

After the game was over, there were a lot more emotions than before the game. Former coach Rick Johnston went around to all of the Green Wave players and hugged each one of their necks.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Green Wave had 88 rushing yards and Jim Tyler Dalrymple completed five of 16 passing for 35 yards to give them a total offense of 123 yards.

Dalrymple had six punts for an average of 32 yards. They had eight first downs and five penalties for 40 yards. They had four fumbles and lost three of them with two interceptions.

Dakota Mabry had 10 carries for 73 yards. Dalrymple had five carries for 27 yards. Blane Joyner had six carries for eight yards.

Evan West had six carries for six yards.

Receiving the ball were Seth Barnett, one for 20 yards; Josh Garrott, two for six yards; and Brandon White, one reception for 6 yards.

On the defense with tackles were, Mabry, 11; Garrott, seven, one interception, and one pass break-up; West, seven and one quarterback sack; Britt Lawrence, five; Josh Ratliff, Arthur Kemp, and Andy Barnes, four each; Bradley Bishop, three; Douglas, two; Jon Michael Ware, Blane Joyner, and Bateman Greenlee one tackle each.

On the Raiders’ side of the ball, they had a total offense of 480 yards. They had eight first downs, one fumble and lost it, two interceptions, and they had seven penalties for 85 yards.

The Green Wave will be back in district action on Friday night when they travel to Helena, Ark. to take on the Desoto Mavericks.
 

The hackberry leaves already on the ground make it sound like you are walking in Corn Flakes, even barefooted, sneaking around at night with a flashlight and pistol trying to stalk the armadillos which nightly root up Betsy’s flower beds, where we’ve been watering.

Even though the trees overhanging the house have been seriously depleted by ice storms twice in the past dozen years, we still have enough shade to make this big old home comfortable without running the AC unit much this summer.

The down side of that is, they shed those leaves in the fall, and they tend to collect in the rain guttering that I made the mistake of installing when we moved the house to the country. Now is the time to check out those gutters and make sure they are in good repair for the coming rains of winter.

I have learned over the years to be cautious when cleaning gutters. Squirrels and chipmunks love to nest in them, and I once had to take a drainpipe plumb off to punch and shake the leaves and trash out of it that the chipmunks had packed it tight with. It could be worse ? and often is, out here at Brownspur: cleaning out the gutter over the front bathroom revealed unto me that ground bumblebees had decided to build their own home in the gutter and top of the drainpipe. I retreated at a run around the corner to the front gable, but was unable to get back to the outside staircase, so had to pry off a front window screen and crawl in an upstairs window.

Pack rats once raised a litter or two in one of the drainpipes, but I saw one going in from the bottom before gutter-cleaning time. We beat the pipe with sticks, intending to flush out one rat, but we got way more than our money’s worth. Rats were going every whichaway for a while there, with boys chasing them.

Last week, my main man Joseph and I were cleaning out and tightening up the gutters on the south side of the house, and I heard the phone ring, down on the porch. I was expecting a call from a movie agent on my new novel, "The Barefoot Dodgers," so I excused myself and went to return the call.

I was just doing so, when I heard the terriblest commotion on the roof, along with shouts and stomping. I ran outside, figuring Joseph had fallen off onto the patio and had broken his neck, whereby I’d have to decide whether to finish him off or call 911. But there was no body on the bricks. "Joseph? You okay?" I called.

He came down from over by the high roof, and somewhat accusingly yelled, "You had a snake in that gutter!"

Right. Like I had put it up there myownself. "What kind?" I asked.

My main man left no doubt that when one runs his hand into a leaf-filled gutter and grabs aholt of a snake, it makes no nevermind as to what type serpent he has latched onto!

Only the tackiest of homeowners would allow snakes to live in their gutters, and those should be duty-bound to post signs as to the occupancy of the said gutters. Joseph is not particularly bad to lose his cool, but he was obviously agitated.

Turned out to be a garter snake, though it was fair-sized. I refused to allow it to be terminated, but did consent to the return of the snake to ground-floor level.

It slithered off into Betsy’s ferns, somewhat irritated by the rough treatment. I do kill poisonous snakes that wander into the yard, but I leave the garter snakes, smaller chicken snakes, and king snakes alone.

We have a king snake that occasionally visits into the garage that has more yellow spots than black, to the extent that it actually looks to be a beautiful greenish-yellow. The larger chicken snakes I usually relocate, on the basis that a big snake, even if it is non-poisonous, can make you hurt yourownself.

Be careful cleaning our your own gutters this fall. Poke with a stick first!