Football Preview: Olive Branch Conquistadors vs. South Panola Tigers
Olive Branch hasn't had much luck against South Panola recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Olive Branch Conquistadors will challenge the South Panola Tigers at 7:00 p.m. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Olive Branch took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They walked away with a 35-28 win over Saltillo. The high-scoring effort was just what the Conquistadors needed considering they were shutout in their previous game.
It was another big night for Thomas Heffner, who rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries, and also threw for 31 yards and a touchdown. His longest rush was for an impressive 51 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Another player making a difference was Brandon Perry, who rushed for 71 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries.
Olive Branch was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 292 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in August of 2023.
Meanwhile, South Panola had already won six in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 23.2 points) and they went ahead and made it seven on Friday. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Lake Cormorant 24-21. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Tigers have posted since August 25, 2023.
The victory snapped Olive Branch's losing streak at three games and leaves them with a 2-5 record. As for South Panola, their win was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-1.
Olive Branch suffered a grim 49-27 defeat to South Panola when the teams last played back in October of 2023. Can Olive Branch avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
