Cougars upset Rosa Fort 42-22 8/26/2014
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, August 26, 2014
By Myra Bean
Though the North Panola Cougar defense had some early game struggles, it came through and gave the Cougars a 42-22 upset win over Rosa Fort in Tunica Friday night.
For the first time in four meetings, the Cougars walked away with a season-opening win.
Led by senior athlete Darrius Thomas, the Cougar defense held the Lions’ offense to 170 total yards of offense, with 48 rushing and 122 passing.
Thomas had eight tackles, one for a loss, one pass break up and one interception.
The North Panola offense racked up 373 total yards including 258 rushing and 115 passing.
Following the victory, the Cougars were ranked the No. 5 team in 3A by The Clarion Ledger.
Starting on the Cougar defensive line were Brandon Wilbourn, Kevin Merrell, Kordariel Preston and Stan Gross.
However, it was the defensive backfield that was the hero of the hour to put up most of the stops.
Virgil Jones had seven tackles, one for loss, one pass break up and one interception. Preston had seven tackles, two for loss yards. Justin Connor had six tackles, one for a loss and one sack. Mike Hollins had five tackles, one for loss and one sack.
Some notables on defense, starting cornerback Quan Lantern did not play due to back spasms suffered during pregame and freshman Marvin “Primetime” Adams and quarterback/defensive back Jatavious Farmer stepped in to play corner back.
The defense held Rosa Fort until junior Tarquise Harris broke some tackles and sprinted for a 55-yard touchdown run with 6:25 left on the first quarter clock. After a penalty, the Lions attempted a two-point conversion from the eight but it was short and they took a 6-0 lead.
The Cougars got on the score board on a safety by Wilbourn with 2:48 left to go in the second quarter. On an attempted punt, the Rosa Fort kicker failed to bring the ball in and it rolled in the end zone. He attempted to bring it out, but was bought down by Wilbourn.
The Cougars took possession on their own 41-yard line and nine plays later Farmer jumped over the offensive line into the end zone on a one-yard touchdown with 40.8 remaining in the half. With the two-point conversion, the Cougars took a 10-6 lead into halftime.
This was the first time in four years the Cougars ever had a lead over Rosa Fort.
“There were a lot of kinks in the beginning,” said Cougar head coach Derek King. “We are obviously better. I told the boys at halftime that we had already done something that we have never done. None of those kids in their high school career had ever had a lead over Rosa Fort. Even having the lead was already awesome, so they kind of built on that.”
King’s first year at North Panola in 2012, Rosa Fort won 30-0 and last year 40-32.
“We knew that if we could get going, we’ve got the athletes to move the ball. We just had to not make mistakes and hurt ourselves,” King said.
Despite the temperatures hovering in the upper 80’s and low 90’s, the Cougars looked like a new team coming out of the lockers following halftime.
The starters were playing both sides of the ball and with the temperatures that hot, that was a concern, according to offensive coordinator Carl Diffee.
“One thing we have to keep emphasizing is getting in shape and playing consistently up front, being physical” he said. “As many kids as we have going both ways, we (coaching staff) are going to have to do a better job of finding some guys who can step in and give our guys some breaks.”
There was definitely a shift noticed in the North Panola/Rosa Fort match up. North Panola received the ball out of halftime and kept it four minutes and 15 seconds, leading to a 26-yard touchdown reception by Thomas. Trai Sanders took in the two-point conversion for the 18-6 lead.
Rosa Fort answered with 6:40 left in the third quarter on a 52-yard pass from quarterback Ronald Ladd to Harris. Ladd took in the two-point conversion to pull back within four, 18-14.
The fourth quarter ended up being a barn burner as North Panola scored three touchdowns and only allowed Rosa Fort one to pull away and secure the victory.
Sanders owned the show in the fourth quarter, scoring two touchdowns, an eight-yard run with 6:14 left in the game to give the Cougars a 26-14 lead after Connor’s two-point conversion. He also scored on a 13-yard pass reception from Farmer with 2:17 left in the game and the two-point conversion run to put the icing on the cake for the 42-22 lead.
“He (Sanders) has been grown up. He just got to show it,” King said. “Now we have three backs and T. (Farmer) and we’ve got the receivers too. It’s nice.”
Also, scoring in the fourth was Farmer on another one-yard run with 5:24 left in the game. Sanders two-point conversion gave the Cougars a 32-22 lead.
“A couple of kids went down tonight and I thought a couple step up and did a good job for us,” Diffee said. “Kiron Covington stepped right in at wide receiver. Then all of a sudden our wides go down and I had to put Trai Sanders in there. He stepped up, caught a touchdown and ran one in. He had a big night.
“Overall, we knew we could run the football on them,” Diffee continued. “I hoped we were going to be able to throw a little more. We just couldn’t block them up front. That was one of the best defensive lines we will probably see all year.”
Rosa Fort had pulled with four, 26-22, after returning a kickoff return 70-yard with 6:00 left and the two-point conversion.
Farmer completed seven of 22 passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns. He had 98 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns.
Also rushing for the Cougars were Connor, 13 carries, 89 yards; Sanders, 13 carries, 69 yards, one touchdown; and Thomas, one carry, two yards.
Jones led in receiving yards with 38 yards on one catch followed by Thomas with 36 yards on three catches and one touchdown. Other receivers include Robert Oliver, 28 yards, two receptions; and Sanders, one catch, 13 yards, one touchdown.
David Burton had five kickoffs, 110 yards and six punts for 168 yards.
Thomas returned four kickoffs for 86 yards.
North Panola will be back on the road Friday to face Byhalia who lost to Holly Springs 14-0 Friday.