Posted on 10/03/2008 7:00:23 AM PDT by Sybeck1
They've won a nation-best 80 consecutive games, five straight MHSAA Class 5A state titles and are ranked No. 14 nationally by USA Today.
Yet South Panola coach Lance Pogue isn't the least bit overconfident when it comes to the Tigers' Region 1-5A showdown tonight against Olive Branch at Pool Field.
"We've got to hold up and match how physical they are. If we can hold up to that, I think we'll have a chance," said Pogue, whose Tiger program hasn't tasted defeat since the 2002 MHSAA Class 5A championship game.
Olive Branch (4-1), ranked No. 4 in The Commercial Appeal's Dandy Dozen, has dropped eight straight games to South Panola (5-0) since the Tigers' streak began in 2003, including three North Half championship games.
"I'm being as honest as I can tell you: As a coaching staff and as a football team, we never mention it," Pogue said of the streak. "Obviously everybody's proud of it. It's the talk around the town and the school, and even within the state here. But as a team, we never mention it. ... We know without a doubt we've got another really good team staring us in the face, and they're not interested in what we've done in the past."
Scott Samsel's Conquistadors would love nothing more than to put an end to the streak tonight, though Samsel is the first to admit doing so will be a tall order, even for an Olive Branch team that boasts the No. 1 offensive line in the nation according to Rivals.com.
"We haven't had a whole lot of success against them the last few years," Samsel said. "Everybody has to have respect for what they've accomplished in terms of state championships and the winning streak. ... This is the game our kids look forward to every year."
Pogue said tonight's game is less about keeping the streak alive than it is about gaining control of Region 1-5A.
"One day it'll end. Hopefully not anytime soon because nobody wants to lose," he said. "Every game is big right now division-wise because you're playing for playoff position. But this game holds a little bit more to it, too, because they've got an outstanding team and we've gotten off to a good start. I know there's a lot of build up about it. The winner of this game has a pretty good chance to take control of the division, and that's what's important."
Mississippi High School Footbal Ping!
Mississippi football. Go South Panola!!
You know, I have to tell you ... that's just sick. Sports are great and all, but at some point the grown-ups have just got to let the kids be kids. This kind of crap is a whole lot more about adults and their fantasies, than it is about the kids.
(from a former Lafayette County resident)
Well my wife teaches at OB, so I am pulling for an upset. 15,000 tickets were sold locally. It is being shown on Comcast here also.
Yes
Ohio high school football is stronger than Mississippi this year.
Texas teams did not play Ohio’s best this year. Ohio’s best this year is down in southwest Ohio. However, Texas has absolutely great high school football. I’d say California, Texas, Florida, and Ohio has the best HS football in the nation, year in and year out.
Gee, just a few more wins and they will be HALF WAY to the record for consecutive wins set by DeLaSalle of Concord, CA.
DeLaSalle of Calif. is a fabled program.
I absolutely love high school football and this team from Panola deserves respect. (However, they shouldn’t forget that this nation has some other great programs.)
Nope. What I'm seeing is a small part of a larger problem. The idea of pitting this or that high school team against some team in another state is part and parcel of a bigger problem. You wouldn't even know about those other teams, except that the scouting, statistics, and all of the other stuff is being assembled and distributed by adults, in the spirit of "let's you and him fight."
For example, you're aware, I suppose, that there are college, and sometimes even pro scouts who spend their days scouting middle schoolers. To those guys, and the colleges and pro teams that pay them, these kids are commodities, as in "livestock."
That sort of crap is what happens when ambitious adults get the idea that the can use kids to achieve their own advancement.
Sports are great; and winning championships is great, too. But when adults lose perspective, and tie their own hopes and dreams into kids' games, that's when the problems start.
And that's where things stand today.
I thought DeLaSalle’s record was 151 wins... 12 straight undefeated seasons. 43 shutouts during the streak.
I was born and grew up in Chickasaw County, MS if you know where that is.
And there seems to be more rabid moms and dads out there than ever before. The adults are trying to live THEIR dreams through their kids. Is rabid the word I was looking for?
I’m just north of you here in Willie World
I'd probably say "aggressively ambitious" (for whose sake they're ambitious is often hard to tell). I've done a lot of coaching at the kid level, and I've seen the whole spectrum ...
On one end there are the protective parents, whose fears for their kid get in the way of their kids' progress. I've had a few of those. (Their kids tend to practice and play a lot better when the parents aren't there...)
On the other end are the parents who push their kids relentlessly, yell at and even coach them during the games, and abuse them when they make a mistake. I find that those sorts of folks often tend to go by the example of the coaches, who also yell at their teams. I will say that such programs can often put together some quite good teams; but nobody seems to enjoy themselves very much.
I have to say that I've been very lucky as far as my own sets of parents are concerned, however. Perhaps it's because I'm coaching for a program that is focused more on the kids playing well than on winning. I suppose it could be a matter of self-selection: the parents who don't like that style may take their kids to one of the more aggressive organizations in town. We've had some pretty good teams, though, and I know for a fact that the kids are having fun.
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