By Ike House

Being the favorite does not always equal out to a win and in the case of North Panola and O’Bannon the rule applied. The then 3-1 team increased their win total by one after upsetting North Panola at home 22-20. 

The Cougars played strong defense as the game went on but the offense could not increase the score and let the Green Wave a chance to stay in the game. On O’Bannon’s first drive they scored on a short drive. They began on the 45 after a return on a North Panola punt. On the first play they burst open the Cougar defense on an 11-yard run. 

Cougar Trai Sanders got a sack with a five-yard loss. On a fourth down and  10, O’Bannon scored on a 33 yard pass andled 8-0 after the two point conversion. 

On the following drive for the Cougars, Sanders scored on a 60-yard run. The played was aided on runs by Justin Connor and Sanders who had an 11 yard run for a first down. The scored remained 8-6 O’Bannon after the two-point attempt failed. 

After a stalled Green Wave drive, the Cougars drove the ball from the 39 and on first and goal the Cougars fumbled and O’Bannon recovered. 

With the ball on the one yard line, O’Bannon got out of trouble after two running plays led to a first down. On third down, the Cougars defense came through as Sanders intercepted a pass that was tipped by Kiron Convigton and took it to the four-yard line. 

On first and goal, Connor scored on a four yard run to give the Cougars their first lead of the game. The score stood 12-8 after the two-point conversion failed. 

On the Cougars’ next possession on fourth and five, quarterback Kenneth Jefferson ran for a 15-yard touchdown, taking on all defenders in his path. The Cougars increased the lead to 10 points, 18-8, as the two point attempt failed. 

North Panola was plagued by missed opportunities to score and turnovers. After the half, O’Bannon scored on a three-yard run for a touchdown to cut the lead to 18-14 after the two-point attempt failed. 

The next Cougar drive they failed to move the ball but on the punt Preston made up for his mistake earlier after recovering a muffed punt. The Cougars had a short field to go and after an up and down drive that ended with a big stop by O’Bannon on the one yard line on fourth down. 

The Green Wave was in another difficult situation as they were yet again on the one yard line. On the first play Kennard Lyons got through the offensive line for a safety to increase the Cougar lead, 20-14. 

Late in the fourth the game was on the line as the Cougars punted with time on the clock for the Green Wave to score. On the punt the Green Wave return man picked up the ball surrounded by Cougars and Jonathan Harris caused a fumble and recovered it. After a talk amongst the officiating crew they called an inadvertent whistle in which the Cougars had to kick again. 

“They said we didn’t have it at first and that we got it after the whistle,” head coach Derek King added. “If the crew stuck to their call, it would have been fine.”

The ball was downed on the 24 yard line. After a false start and a couple of incompletions, the Green Wave gained 40 yards on a double pass. On the next play North Panola dropped a possible interception and then was called for pass interference on third down and long to put O’Bannon closer to the endzone.

Another penalty on third down, improper equipment against North Panola, gave O’Bannon a first down.

O’Bannon scored on second down on a 10 yard run with 40 seconds left in the game to tie the game at 20. O’Bannon took the lead and the game on the two point conversion, 22-20.

“It’s super deflating to a group of kids to have a big momentum shift like that,” King said.

With the ball on the 31 yard the Cougars had a long way to go to score. They gave up two sacks, threw two incompletions and had two false starts that eventually ended the game. 

“I expected for it to be tough game but I didn’t expect for us to execute as badly as we did,” King said.

Leading the Cougars on offense was quarterback Jefferson who had three carries for 29 yards and a touchdown. Connor had 32 carries for 151 yards with a touchdown. Sanders had seven carries for 113 yards and a touchdown. Covington had three carries six yards. David Burton had one carry for six yards. Lavonta Towns had one carry for a yard. 

On defense Ankeyvias Harris led the defense with seven tackles, two tackles for a loss and a sack. Sanders had four tackles, two tackles for a loss and a sack. Stan Gross had four tackles and two tackles for a loss. Sylvonta Oliver had four tackles. Covington had three tackles and a tackle for a loss. Preston had three tackles and a fumble recovery and Kevin Merrell had three tackles, two tackles for a loss, a sack and a fumble recovery. Kennard Lyons had a tackle, a tackle for a loss and caused a safety. Jacorrious Walls and Derian Ferrell both had a tackle and a tackle for a loss. Donyavious Banks, Ryan Fairlee, Montreal Connor, Burton, Jaylen Arnold and Tyler Shorter each had one tackle.