By Barry H. Hendrix
The Thomasville High School Tigers varsity football team lost 22-15 Sept. 5 to Class 3A, Region 3 opponent, the Southside Selma High School Panthers, at Panther Stadium in Selma.
It was a chaotic game with multiple turnovers and penalties.
“I thought we played hard,” said Clint Anderson, THS Head Football Coach. “Our effort was there. We just made too many mistakes. We allowed the environment to affect us – to create false start penalties and things like that.
“We had some drives that we let stall out because we missed a block.” Different players would miss a blocking scheme on particular plays, he said. “We were a block away from sustaining drives and finishing those in the end zone. You do that, and you’re a couple of touchdowns up.
“Turnovers again played a big factor,” Anderson said. “We had too many turnovers – the things that end up making a difference in a close game.”
After the Tigers had taken the lead in the fourth quarter, “we had a breakdown on coverage on our kickoff and allowed them to get real good field position – shortened the field for them. (Then later) we let them get a first down on fourth down, and we couldn’t get them off the field. It was one small thing – here or there.
“We are dealing with our inexperience, but I do think, as bad as the loss was, after watching the film, there were some positives – things that I felt like we did better this week than we did against Sweet Water. Our goal is to continue to improve every week. The season is not won or lost in one week.”
Southside blocked a THS punt (10:16 in the first quarter). The Panthers had the ball on the Tiger 36-yard line.
Four plays later, Thomasville’s Antoine Pitts recovered a Southside fumble (8:59 in the first). THS had the ball on their own 18. However, the Tigers had the give the ball over-on-downs at the Panther 6.
Southside scored with a 43-yard touchdown pass from Kole Moody to Cedrick Simmons (3:54 in the second quarter). The 2-point conversion pass from Moody to Ar’Mari Towns was also good.
Thomasville’s C.J. Welch was successful with a 22-yard field goal (22 seconds in the second).
Southside’s Derrick Surles scored on a 71-yard hook-and-lateral play for the second TD (end of the first half). The 2-point conversion pass was no good, and Southside led 14-3 at halftime.
Thomasville’s C.J. Rowden intercepted a Panther pass (11:29 in the third quarter). THS had the ball on the Tiger 11. Five plays later, Southside’s Camarion Allen intercepted a Thomasville pass (8:52 in the third). The Panthers had the ball on the Southside 46. However, the Tiger forced the Panthers’ drive over-on-downs at the 50-yard line (8:09).
Later, a THS fumble gave the Panthers the ball on the Southside 16 (5:16 in the third). However, the Panther drive stalled out on the Tiger 46 over-on-downs (1:44).
Southside’s Michael Hosea recovered another THS fumble (1:33 in the third), and the Panthers had the ball on the Southside 44.
Four plays later, Thomasville’s Jakaden Grayson recovered a Panther fumble (25 seconds in the third). The Tigers had the ball on their own 39. The Thomasville possession would end with a 1-yard TD run by Jakaden Grayson (8:35 in the fourth). The 2-point conversion was no good, and Southside led 14-9.
The Tigers would gain the lead as Hunter Norwood intercepted a Panther pass and ran the ball from the Southside 38 to the end zone (6:18 in the fourth). The 2-point conversion run was no good, and THS led 15-14.
Southside scored again with a 7-yard TD pass from Moody to Surles (3:03 left in the game). Kendell Wilson also scored the 2-point conversion.
Thomasville was not able to score on its final possession.
The THS Tigers (1-2) will next host region opponent Sumter Central (0-2) at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12 at D.F. Anderson Field.
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