By Angie Ledbetter

The South Panola Tigers are still perfect after a 35-7 victory over the Southaven Chargers Friday. The 84th win came on the last home regular season game and they remained in full control of the district with a 5-0 record and a 9-0 overall.

The Chargers won the toss but deferred to the second half. The first quarter went scoreless for both teams.

The first score came on a 33-yard pass from quarterback David Renfroe to wide receiver Xavier Lee with 7:51 on the clock and Renfroe’s PAT was good.  A few seconds later, David Conner sacked Tyler Brant, quarterback for the Chargers. The Tiger defense held strong forcing the Chargers to punt with 6:07 on the clock.

With 4:01 left in the quarter, Qyendairs Griffin took the ball from two yards out for another Tiger touchdown. With the PAT, the Tigers had a 14-0 lead.

The Chargers fumbled their next possession and Dennis Draper recovered it for the Tigers on the Charger 32.

Lee scored on a 32-yard pass from Renfroe. With the PAT, The Tigers had a 21-0 lead with 2:18 left in the first half.

After starting on their own 41 yard line, the Chargers scored with 1:15 on the clock when Brant connected with Tatrenair Wooten connected on a 30-yard pass. The Chargers cut the Tiger lead to 21-7 at the half with the PAT.

Renfroe attempted a 36-yard field goal but missed with three seconds left in the first half.

With 5:31 left in the third, Chargers had a fourth down and eight from the Tigers’ 25 and went for a first down. The pass went incomplete due to tight coverage by linebacker David Conner.

Domonique Carothers took the ball from 12 yards out for another Tiger touchdown and the PAT was good with 1:36 left in the quarter and that score held to the end of the third quarter.

Facing a fourth and one on their own 44 with 11:43 left in the game, the Chargers got a first and 10 on the Tigers’ 25 after the Tigers received 30 yards in penalties. The next play Conner stepped up and stopped another big pass completion for the Tigers. The Chargers had a second and 10 on the Tigers’ 13 but got a penalty after the play. The Tigers declined it giving the Chargers a third down. Pogue showed confidence in his defense. The defense held strong and Devin Clark broke up another pass and the ball went over to the Tigers with 10:17 on the clock. The Tigers started first and 10 from their own 9.

A 35-yard touchdown run by Nicholas Parker and a PAT by Renfroe added 7 more points on the board for the Tigers with 7:40 left in the game. The Tigers kicked an onside kick but the Chargers got the ball.

The Chargers fumbled at the Tiger 48 and Qyendairs Griffin recovered it for the Tigers. A few minutes later the Tigers fumbled the ball and the Chargers got it back on their own 27 with 5:21 left in the game. The Tiger defense held them forcing them to punt with 4:03 on the clock.

Pogue brought in the younger players to play the last three minutes of the game.  

The Tigers dominated the game across the board. Renfroe completed 13 of 19 passes for 202 yards with two touchdowns.

Running back Nicholas Parker had 108 yards on 17 carries with one touchdown. Running back Domonique Carothers had 13 carries for 78 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore running back Qyendairs Griffin had 31 yards and a touchdown on six carries.

Xavier Lee had two receptions for 65 yards and two touchdowns. Anthony Ladd, another wide receiver, had seven receptions for 57 yards. Tight end Taylor Rotenberry had two receptions for 45 yards. Kerrion Moore had one reception for 37 yards.

Renfroe punted twice for the Tigers for 65 total yards with his longest being 35 yards.

The Tigers had 23 first downs, five penalties for 67 yards and one fumble lost. They had 45 rushing attempts for 252 yards and 239 passing yards for a total offense of 491 yards. Time of possession was 28:55 for the Tigers.

The Tiger defense was a big key in winning the game. They held the Chargers to eight first downs, 32 rushing yards and 111 passing for a total offense of 143 yards.

Tackling for the Tigers were David Conner, Kendrick Strong, Kendrick Market, LaReco Lee, Marjarvin Chapman and Ortiss Robertson. Recovering a fumble was Qyendairs Griffin and Dennis Draper. Marvin Burdette had one quarterback sack.

Southaven quarterback Brant was 10 of 18 for 111 yards passing. The Chargers lost two fumbles, had two penalties for 30 yards and punted five times for 172 yards. They had one punt return for nine yards and five kickoff returns for 36 yards. Time of possession was 19:05 for the Chargers.

Head coach Lance Pogue told the team after the win, “Good job and good win. That is why I tell you all of the time that you have to constantly keep your composure, coaches, players and everybody. You never know what the next play will hold or what can happen.

“I appreciate you doing that when it got crazy out there for a little while,” Pogue added. “That was a good job, especially you guys on defense. Let’s keep working and keep getting better. We have got to go to Starkville next week. They were tied with Olive Branch at halftime. So you can’t take anybody for granted, record or anything. We have got to play our game.”

Pogue said he thought his guys did a good job.

“I thought that we played good in spurts and I think we can continue to play better. When you win 35-7 against a playoff team, I am happy with it.

“We’re proud of the win and that puts us 9-0 and in complete control of the division. That is what we wanted to accomplish.”

With 11:41 left in the game, linebacker Marvin Burdette was ejected from the game for fighting.

Burdette sought medical attention after the game for an eye injury. If his eye is okay, he can return the game at the same point at which he was ejected Friday against Starkville.