The Charleston High School Tigers evened their record at 1-1 with a 50-22 win over the North Panola Cougars at Tiger Stadium Friday night, Sept. 1.
North Panola fell to 1-1.
Charleston racked up 418 total yards of offense, including 331 yards on the ground, and scored 42 points in the first half of the game.
They basically shut down North Panola’s top receiver, 6-foot, 187-pound senior J.J. Harrell, a Mississippi State commit graded as the No. 25 wide receiver nationally, based on 247Sports composite rankings. Against Charleston, Harrell had just two catches for 24 yards.
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The Tigers bolted out of the gate, scoring first on a Dre Riley punt return for a touchdown to take a 6-0 advantage.
Marcus “Deuce” Flowers ran for the first of three touchdowns, this on a 50-yard carry. Lemar Frost caught a pass from Devon Olive for the two-point conversion, giving the hometown Tigers a 14-0 nod at the end of the first quarter.
A 28-point second quarter put Charleston up 42-16 at the break.
North Panola was first to score in the second quarter, on a safety by Harrell.
Riley responded with a 20-yard touchdown reception from Latese Edwards. Flowers followed that up with a run for the two-pointer to extend the CHS advantage to 22-2.
Flowers scored on a 76-yard run — the two-pointer failed — to give the Tigers a 28-2 lead.
The Cougars answered with a 4-yard touchdown run and a carry by quarterback Quederquerious Walls for the two-point conversion, making the score 28-10.
The Tigers built on that lead when Montra Sanford snared an interception and returned it for a 34-yard pick-six. Flowers ran for the two-pointer to extend the home team’s advantage to 36-10.
Riley pulled in a 16-yard TD plass from Olive to make it 42-10, Charleston. The conversion attempt failed.
The Cougars capped all first-half scoring with a 33-yard touchdown pass.
The home team carried a 42-16 advantage into the locker room at intermission.
While subbing liberally in the second half, Charleston added only one more score — a 25-yard third-quarter Flowers TD run followed by his carry for the two-point conversion and 50-16 lead.
North Panola ended all game scoring on a 33-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the third quarter.
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Statistically, Charleston rushed the football 43 times for 331 yards, led by Flowers’ 22 carries for 199 yards. Edwards had seven totes for 64 yards, Riley two for 35 and Olive two for 27. Quintavious Cashaw ran twice for 3 yards and Coreyun Spearman carried once for 3 yards.
Olive completed 4-of-11 passes for 67 yards and one TD, while Edwards hit on 1-of-2 attempts for 20 yards and the one touchdown.
Riley’s five catches accounted for all of Charleston’s receiving yards.
Defensively, both Montra Sanford and Brandon Henderson snared an interception.
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This week, the Tigers will set out on the first road trip of the 2023 season when they travel to Clarksdale in Coahoma County. Kickoff Friday night, Sept. 8, is at 7 p.m.
The Class 5A Wildcats are 1-1 on the season.
Clarksdale opened the campaign by hosting Cleveland Central, a game the Wildcats lost 19-10.
Last week, Clarksdale topped cross-city rival Coahoma County 18-0.
CHS head coach LaDon Taylor could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.
