The Panthers of Yazoo County continued their reign of domination in the conference on Friday night when they defeated Humphreys County 42-26.
The win brought Yazoo County’s overall record to 6-2 and their conference record to 3-0.
According to Yazoo County head football coach Robert Dobbs, the Panthers finally understand the major lessons that have been preached to them all year.
“As far as things going well go, the kids finally understand the importance of district games,” Dobbs said. “We came out firing on all cylinders, particularly on offense. We’ve eliminated a lot of mental mistakes we had early on in the year.”
A heavy dose of Kenneth Gainwell, Cherokee Edwards, and Terrance Milsap haunted Humphreys County in the first half.
The Panthers put up 7 points in the first quarter and 14 points in the second quarter while maintaining a shutout.
At the half, the Panthers led 21-0.
By that point, they had outscored conference opponents 107-0.
Their shutout came to an end in the third quarter.
A quarterback change by the Cowboys changed up the momentum slightly.
The Panthers outscored the Cowboys 7-6 in the third quarter and were actually outscored by the Cowboys 20-14 in the fourth quarter, making the final 42-26.
Dobbs feels that the quarterback change for Humphreys gave them fits.
“They switched quarterbacks in the second half,” Dobbs said. “They moved a kid from wide receiver to quarterback. He started scrambling and making plays. We lost containment a lot of times. He would scramble and buy time, and we would have to cover receivers downfield for too long. It presented problems for us, and we can’t lose containment against mobile quarterbacks.”
Yazoo County racked up 430 yards in the victory.
Gainwell had a monster of a game offensively for the Panthers, rushing 15 times for 141 yards and three touchdowns.
He also completed 10-of-17 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown.
Edwards rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 carries in the win.
Terrance Milsap hauled in six passes for 98 yards and a score on offense, and on defense, he had two tackles.
Kenderian Dixon had a team-high 11 tackles in the win.
Jay Thomas had six tackles, five of which were for loss, and a sack.
Curtis Bullock had six tackles, three of which were for loss, and Terry Seay had six tackles, three of which were for loss.
The defensive lapses in the second half showed Dobbs that his team may have an area to improve in for the tough slate ahead.
“The coaching staff met on Sunday, and we incorporated some drills to get better at containing quarterbacks,” Dobbs said. “We’ll need to be much better at that with East Side and Velma Jackson coming up. They have quarterbacks that can move around and beat you.”
Next up for Yazoo County is a very formidable East Side team.
East Side is 8-1 on the season after demolishing Amanda Elzy 44-6 on Friday night.
Although East Side is a very strong team this year, Dobbs sees a place where he thinks his team could have the advantage.
“East Side is a very good ball club offensively and defensively,” Dobbs said. “We could have the advantage on the lines. If we continue to play physical football, we should be able to come up with a win.”
Kickoff at East Side is set for 7 p.m.
