WEST POINT — Forget about the present.
It was clear Saturday night the future is pretty bright for the South Panola and West Point high school football teams.
“The reason I wanted this matchup beyond trying to beat the best was we knew playing this team in this atmosphere would help us both push toward another state titles,” West Point coach Chris Chambless said.
Some of the best athletes in the state of Mississippi arrived at Hamblin Stadium and the overall theme was none of them are going anywhere soon. They”re all back at their respective schools next year.
“We”re both in the same boat with a lot of young, inexperienced talent
running around out there,” South Panola coach Lance Pogue said. “The scary thing is I think that”s two great football teams that can get so much better in a short amount of time.”
Even after a 37-17 victory at West Point on Saturday night when the primary focus in Batesville is on a third straight state championship, Pogue can already count the amount of returnees he”ll have in 2012.
“At this time next season we”ll probably have a group of 18 starters back,” Pogue said. “We”ll get better every time we play, and I”m excited about the future.”
South Panola”s famous power rushing attack was led by junior Antonio Conner, who already has received plenty of mail and phone calls from Southeastern Conference schools.
Conner, a 6-foot-2, 192-pounder, took snaps at tailback, wildcat quarterback, and defensive back and finished with 85 rushing yards and a 28-yard touchdown scamper all in the first half.
In front of a hostile capacity crowd, South Panola used the running game of Conner and senior tailback Marcus Dixon to quiet the pregame hype and hysteria involved before kickoff.
Dixon may graduate this season but was receiving significant playing time for the first time in his high school career.
In crucial third-down situations, South Panola (1-0) let junior quarterback Tevis Flowers make some plays through the air and with his feet.
“It was his first time to play and quite honestly he was nervous, but once he completed the big pass down the middle there he realized he could rely on our receivers more,” Pogue said. “We don”t have the big, tall, lanky kids like (University of Mississippi signee) Nicolas Brassell but have a group that can do some impressive things.”
Pogue admitted he may have Conner, one of the state”s top-rated juniors according to many recruiting services, a bit too much in the first 24 minutes after he suffered a slight rib injury that took him out of most offensive plays in the second half.
“He is our home run threat and a seasoned guy that calmed us down early,” Pogue said. “We are going to get it to where we don”t have to rely on him as much.”
West Point (0-1) showcased the skills duo of junior Tez Lane and Mario Virges with its offensive attack. Chambless called for a perfect play-action rollout for the home team”s first touchdown when quarterback Dequinten Spraggins found Virges wide enough open for the tailback to walk into the end zone.
Lane finished with 122 all-purpose yards rushing against a defensive front that had eight and sometimes nine in the box waiting to stop the 160-pounder every time he of his backfield teammates touched the football.
“Everybody thought we couldn”t run on them and early on we proved those people wrong,” Lane said. “Mario and I combine strength, speed
and power better than anybody I know. We keep as a cycle and flowing that way.”
Virges, who the Green Wave have used more of a fullback role, is the younger brother of MSU defensive lineman Curtis Virges.
The Bulldogs redshirt freshman said his sibling has received letters along with discussions with SEC head coaches at summer skill camps.
“He”s had talks with guys like (MSU coach Dan) Mullen and (Alabama head coach) Nick Saban about playing for them,” Curtis Virges said after a practice Thursday in Starkville.
Virges ended the game with only a few carries and the one catch that found him in the end zone.
Lane got the crowd on its feet in the second quarter with an 84-yard kickoff return to knot the score at 14.
“I take this game as a building block and they”re going to win another state title most likely,” Lane said. “Bottom line, we stayed with them and we can feel good about that.”
Chambless will have a bye week to regroup before they travel to play Columbus on Sept. 2 with the group of young stars that he says he trusts more even after a loss to South Panola.
“We don”t look at having young guys as a problem,” Chambless said. “That”s an opportunity to teach and get better and that will happen immediately.”
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