By Myra Bean

“This game was bigger than us,” said North Panola head coach Derek King, following Friday night’s 48-7 trouncing of Byhalia.

North Panola (1-1) played in Byhalia after the school refused to travel to Sardis in light of the shooting and death of 15-year-old Roderick Bobo following the game against Rosa Fort August 23.

“This is for a lot of people,” King continued. “I hope you had some sort of peace for these four quarters.”

It was a happy but solemn time as the team is getting ready to say good-bye to Bobo in a funeral service this afternoon at 2 p.m. at the high school.

Byhalia struck first in the first quarter and scored on a 30-yard pass touchdown with 7:35 left in the first quarter. With the PAT took a 7-0 lead.

North Panola got on the board on a 45-yard run by quarterback Jatavius Farmer with 53.3 seconds left in the first, but the two-point conversion failed. The score going into the second quarter was 7-6 Byhalia.

In the second quarter, North Panola took the lead for good on a 35-yard run by Farmer with 8:31 left. The two-point conversion by Tevin Wink was good for the 14-7 lead. North Panola went on to score three more touchdowns in the quarter, a 14 and a 71-yard passes from Farmer to Darius Thomas and a 43-yard pass from Farmer to Willie Hibbler. With two of the three two-point conversions good, the Cougars led 36-7 at the half.

Justin Connor scored the only touchdown in the third quarter, a two-yard run with 10:36 left in the quarter for the 42-7 fourth quarter lead. A fluke play resulted in a touchdown for the Cougars in the fourth quarter.  Connor carried the ball, was hit from behind and fumbled. The ball bounced off the defender’s helmet before hitting the ground. In the neighborhood was tightend Robert Oliver who scooped it up and carried the ball into the end zone for a 45-yard touchdown run for the final score, 48-7.

The Cougars will be back on the road Friday at Hernando for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

North Delta

North Delta (0-2) had a little trouble on the offensive side as they fell to Magnolia Heights 35-6 Friday night

The Green Wave will be home Friday to host Strayhorn in non-conference action at 7 p.m.