SARDIS — After a slow start, the Charleston High School Tigers exhibited grit and dogged determination in clawing their way to a 30-26 win over the North Panola Cougars here Friday night.
Charleston improved to 3-3 while North Panola fell to 1-5.
“We played flat early on, and North Panola hit us in the mouth real quick,” said CHS head coach LaDon Taylor. That’s when “we figured out we’d better try to wake up and play some ball.”
Play ball they did, erasing a 14-0 first-quarter deficit by the half and taking the lead for good in the third quarter.
“We’re really proud of the guys’ effort and perseverance,” noted Taylor. “They fought through, and we found a way to get the job done.”
The Tigers also overcame the adversity of having a second-quarter strip-sack with a 50-yard scoop and score by Timothy Kirk nullified by penalty just before the break.
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North Panola scored first in the game when their defense notched a safety with 9:07 in the first quarter.
At the 7:25 mark, Cougars quarterback Quederquerious Walls ran for a 3-yard TD but was stuffed on the conversion.
North Panola scored again with 5:11 in the first quarter on a 45-yard pass by Walls but the two-point pass failed.
In the second act, Charles-ton’s Devon Olive tossed his first of four passing touchdowns — a 40-yarder to Corterrius Johnson. Olive then hit Dre Riley for the two-point pass conversion to cut the Cougars’ lead to 14-8 with 9:32 left in the half.
The Tigers scored again when Olive completed a 9-yard pass to Terrence Marco. The conversion attempt failed, but the score was knotted.
Charleston took the lead with 2:54 in the third quarter when Olive found Quinterrius Goliday for a 4-yard TD. Riley ran in the conversion.
North Panola responded 54 seconds later, with 2 minutes in the third, when Walls hit J.J. Harrell for a 60-yard pass play. A two-point conversion run that would have tied the game again was choked off, and CHS held a 22-20 lead.
The Tigers built on that advantage midway through the fourth quarter when Olive found Riley for a 9-yard touchdown. Marcus Flowers ran for the two-pointer that gave the visitors a 10-point cushion at 30-20.
The Cougars clawed back, driving the field and scoring on a 1-yard Walls run with 3:55 remaining. Again, the CHS defense rose to the occasion and nixed the conversion attempt, this time a pass.
Olive had completed 8-of-11 passes for 134 yards and four touchdowns to this point, but with nearly 4 minutes left in the contest, Charleston now planned to play keep-away by grinding down the clock.
“We needed two first downs,” said Taylor. “We were able to run the ball and get those first downs to keep the clock rolling and seal the deal,” said Taylor.
The Tigers took a knee on the last couple of plays.
The coach said the critical situational lesson of the last possession could pay big dividends on down the road.
In a future game, he said it might “come down to the end and you need to be able to make a play [or] to be able to run some clock. That was good to be able to do that.”
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Olive gave up the safety and threw an interception, but Taylor said “for the most part, he had a really good game.”
A freshman, Olive has filled in for senior starting QB Rod Obannon since he was sidelined with a shoulder injury four weeks ago.
While Obannon is expected to be back this week, Taylor said it might not be as a starter in the quarterback role.
“We might actually put him at another position, possibly receiver,” he noted.
Taylor expects both Olive and Obannon to have situational opportunities as signal-caller as the season progresses.
“We’ve done that a little bit, but it’s going to be a whole lot more going forward as long as Rod is healthy,” he added.
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Statistically, Flowers led CHS on the ground with 20 carries for 69 yards. Johnson had 13 totes for 57 yards, Quentin Carter three for 20 and Riley two for 11.
Marco had two pass receptions for 61 yards, Johnson one for 40, Riley three for 24, Buddy Hill one for 5 and Goliday one for 4 yards.
Defensively, Charleston brought the wood with seven sacks in the game.
“Defensively, our guys up front really got after them,” said Taylor.
Sophomore outside linebacker Timothy Kirk Jr., who led the Tigers with eight tackles, had two sacks.
Goliday, who posted six tackles, had one sack, as did Montra Sanford, with five tackles; D.J. Boyd, with four tackles; K.K. Brown, with three tackles; and Tracy Truly, who had one stop.
Other leading tacklers were Omar Wilson, with six; C.J. Edwards, with five; and Latese Edwards, with four.
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Friday night, Charleston opens Region 3-2A play by traveling to Shelby in Bolivar County to face the 4-1 Northside High School Gators in a game that kicks off at 7 sharp.
“This is a very important game as far as our division goes,” said Taylor.
He said Northside has “some really athletic players ... [and] some really good skill guys. They have a receiver who’s a Mississippi State commit, so we’ll have to make sure ... we know where he is at all times.”
Northside is fresh from a 53-20 win at Coahoma County. Their lone loss was to McEvans, 34-29, on Sept. 2.
Taylor expressed thanks to the fans for Friday night.
"I would like to definitely thank the fans. We had a really nice showing up there last Friday. It was very good to see people come out and support the kids," he said. "When you're in an environment like North Panola, it helps the kids' mindset when they hear a lot of people behind them cheering them on. And we had that. So we definitely appreciate the fan base for just showing up for the kids. That was very much appreciated."
