SHELBY—In spite of losing 50-0 at Northside High School last week, Coahoma County has secured a home game in the first round of the MHSAA football playoffs.
The Red Panthers (2-1, 2-1 Region 3-2A) will finish in second place in the division and host JZ George or Eupora at 7 p.m. Nov. 6 at Coahoma Community College. Their homecoming was scheduled for last week against the Gators, but they did not feel Crumpton Field was in good enough condition to be used and CCC was playing on its field the following day.
CCHS was scheduled to finish the regular season at Leland High School on Friday, but the Cubs confirmed late in the season they would not be playing any games in 2020.
All four teams in Region 3-2A that did not cancel their seasons will earn playoff spots. In addition to the Red Panthers finishing in second place, Northside is the district champion, Madison Palmer is the No. 3 seed and O’Bannon finished fourth.
Coahoma County will use its off week to try and improve from its mistakes in the 50-0 loss and prepare for its home playoff game in a week.
“We’ve got a lot of work (to do),” said Red Panthers coach McKinley Scott after Friday night’s loss at Northside. “I kind of wish I had the guys all summer. Tonight, we got down quick. We just had no fight. That’s something that we have to change in order to be a successful team.”
Only a select few athletes were with the team during the summer and they were unable to play non-district games. Their first win was a forfeit victory against Madison Palmer due to COVID-19 issues on the Dragons. Their only win on the field came at O’Bannon the following week 14-0.
“That’s another thing that’s hurting us is the lack of games,” Scott said. “We’ve only played one game and try to put it together. They make mistakes. They should know football. We’ve got to correct them. That’s all.”
Senior quarterback Lamont Lee went out with an injury late in the first half against the Gators, but with Coahoma County trailing 44-0 at halftime, Scott opted to play senior Eddie Henderson at quarterback for the second half.
“I think he’ll be alright,” Scott said. “It’s not a real bad sprain. At that part, I didn’t want to get him hurt. It wasn’t worth it. We’ll rest him, ice him. We have no game next week.”
The game was one-sided from the get-go.
Northside came down and scored on the opening drive to take a 6-0 lead with 8:56 remaining in the first quarter.
On Coahoma County’s first play from scrimmage, Lee attempted a handoff. The Red Panthers lost a fumble on a failed exchange giving Northside possession at the Coahoma County 30.
A 16-yard Northside touchdown pass increased the Gators lead to 12-0 with 7:08 remaining in the first quarter.
A successful onside kick gave Northside yet another possession at the Coahoma County 33-yard-line that led to another touchdown with 3:02 remaining in opening quarter. That put the Gators ahead 20-0.
Northside took a 36-0 lead with 9:37 remaining in the first half after blocking a Christian Banks punt and starting deep in Coahoma County territory.
Trailing 28-0 with 11:26 remaining in the first half, the Red Panthers began with possession at their 20-yard-line. Banks lost a fumble on the first play, but on the same play, the Northside athlete who recovered the ball fumbled the ball out of the Red Panthers end zone.
That gave the Red Panthers the ball back at their own 20 once again, but they went three and out before having to punt.
Lee did complete a 21-yard pass to Chrishunn Banks on a third down and 10 to the Northside 30 with 5:32 to play in the first half. However, penalties pushed Coahoma County back and Lee threw an interception to end the possession.
A 50-yard Northside touchdown pass with 2:18 remaining in the second quarter gave the Gators a 44-0 lead they would take into the locker room at halftime.
The mercy rule was in effect throughout the second half, which meant there was a running clock.
While Northside did score one touchdown, the Red Panthers managed to create one turnover in the second half.
Malik Done intercepted a pass in his own end zone with 4:02 remaining in the game giving Coahoma County possession at its 20-yard-line.
Henderson did have a long run on the ensuing drive, but the Red Panthers were unable to score.
Northside’s second-half touchdown was a 20-yard score with 5:33 remaining in the third quarter.
