Playing against one of the top high-school teams in the nation, the MUS varsity football team knew that they would have to play a perfect game to have a chance in the end. Unfortunately for the Owls, the opponent, the South Panola (MS) Tigers, ended all hope for the upset by the half as the Tigers manhandled MUS and cruised to a 39-2 victory. The loss, before one of the largest crowds in Hull-Dobbs history, ended the program’s twenty-eight-game winning streak and moved the Owls to 2-1 on the year. South Panola improved to 3-0, all impressive road victories.
South Panola jumped on the hosts early as Nicklos Brassell, one of the top senior recruits in Mississippi, ran away from Owl defenders on the fifth play of the game and scored on a 56-yard run. Qyendairs Griffin’s run added the two-point conversion as the visitors led, 8-0, just 1:44 into the contest.
The Tiger defense looked just as formidable on the Owls’ first possession as they forced a punt following three plays that lost four yards.
MUS finally got some momentum following Toby Baker’s 41-yard punt.
After a offensive-holding penalty and a 1-yard loss, center Austin Douglas snapped the ball over Griffin’s head and into the MUS endzone. Griffin alertly swatted the ball out of the endzone, giving the Owls a safety that cut the Tiger lead to 8-2.
But that safety marked the end of the Owls’ scoring. Following the kickoff after the safety, MUS did earn one first down on a Baker-to-William Cross 22-yard reception that got the hosts into South-Panola territory. But on third down, Baker was intercepted at the Tiger 32-yard line, and MUS never entered South-Panola territory again.
The Tigers put the game away in the second quarter as they scored four touchdowns in an 8 1/2-minute span. Griffin added three scoring runs (93, 8, 31), and Marcus Henry hauled in a 12-yard pass from Kendrick Market as South Panola led, 36-2, at the break.
At the half, the Tiger dominance showed on the stat sheet as they had accumulated 407 total yards, including 323 rushing yards. And they held the potent MUS offense to only 51 total yards, including -5 yards rushing. Griffin, who had scored six touchdowns the previous week, had 193 rushing yards on only 14 carries with the three scoring runs.
South Panola added a 26-yard field goal on their first possession of the second half to go up, 39-2, with 5:15 left in the third quarter. Because of the 37-point deficit, the clock ran for the rest of the game and shortened the contest. Neither team could sustain any drives for the remainder of the game as the Tigers avenged last-season’s home loss to MUS.
The Owls never got anything going offensively as they were controlled by the athletic, talented Tigers, and the physical Panola running game found holes in the MUS defensive front. The MUS coaching staff knew the the team would have to execute perfectly offensively and get several turnovers from its defense to have a chance, but South Panola played very well from the outset as they evened the series with MUS to 1-1.
Next week, MUS takes on Memphis Overton at Stokes Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. as the Owls look to start another winning streak.
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