By Rocky Higginbotham / Sports Editor
One way or another, Meridian High School will become the latest chapter in Mississippi prep football history tonight.
Either the Wildcats will be the team which ends South Panola’s reign on Class 5A football in this state; or they’ll simply become victim No. 90.
No. 2-ranked Meridian will battle No. 1-ranked South Panola tonight at 7 p.m. for the MHSAA Class 5A state title, with kickoff from Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium set for 7 p.m.
Many prep football pundits across the state have deemed the game a matchup of true opposites, with South Panola’s bruising, physical attack clashing with the finesse of Meridian. But MHS coach Larry Weems was quick to turn to another cliche which also seemingly fits:
“It’s David vs. Goliath,” Weems said earlier this week during the MHSAA press conferences at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in Jackson. “Those guys are just so big and strong. I don’t know how we’re going to handle them.”
South Panola (14-0) is ranked No. 10 in the country and is riding a nation’s longest 89-game winning streak as the Tigers seek their sixth straight 5A crown tonight. Panola is going for its eighth state title overall — with all of them coming in the past 15 years.
Meridian (13-1), meanwhile, is riding an 11-game winning streak and is seeking its third state championship, but first since 1990.
The Tigers claimed the North State crown with a come-from-behind, 24-21 win at Madison Central; while Meridian shut out rival Oak Grove 28-0 to claim the South State crown.
In that win over Madison Central, South Panola lost heralded junior running back Nicholas Parker to an ankle injury. Parker, by the way, is expected to be at full strength for tonight's game — but while he was out last week — the Tigers got 79 yards on 17 carries from backup Domonique Carothers. Parker, by the way, ran for 120 yards on 18 carries.
"They're not that much different from the South Panola teams of the last few years or the South Panola teams that (Meridian) has faced in the past," Weems said. "They're always good on defense, but what stands out about them is how good they are up front.
"They do what they do very well. They're physical and they run it right at you. What makes it worse is they've got a quarterback now who can throw it ... probably as good of a quarterback as they've had."
That quarterback is David Renfroe, an Ole Miss baseball signee who is expected to be a high pick in next summer's Major League Baseball Draft. On the football field, the son of former Chicago Cubs pitcher Laddie Renfroe has completed 62 percent (115-of-200) passes for 1,750 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Of course, Parker is the hoss of the offense, as he's rushed 322 times for 2,293 yards and 26 touchdowns. Carothers has 541 yards and seven TDs as his primary backup, and South Panola has 3,628 yards rushing in all.
When the Tigers do throw the football, tiny Xavier Lee is usually the threat. Lee has 47 catches for six touchdowns while Nicklos Brassell has 26 catches for 713 yards and seven TDs.
On the defensive side of the football, David Conner — who has verbally committed to Auburn — has team-highs of 92.5 tackles and 7.5 sacks.
Speaking of defense, it's a rejuvenated Meridian unit which has raised the collective eyebrow of Wildcat fans in recent weeks.
Michael Pack leads the way with 134 total tackles, and he also has five pass deflections and a couple of interceptions.
Jacoby Eason has 95 stops, 12 for a loss, and a team-high 13 sacks while Keith Austin has 88 tackles and seven sacks. Khairi Usher has 77 tackles and four interceptions, Lauren Jackson has 75 tackles and Rashaad Houston has 72.
Offensively, it starts for Meridian with all-state quarterback Tyler Russell, the Mississippi State commitment who has thrown for 3,086 yards and 39 touchdowns this season. Russell has hit on 191-of-287 passes and thrown just five interceptions.
Fellow MSU commit Chris Smith has 66 catches for 1,015 yards and 10 touchdowns; Marcus McQuarley has 40 catches for 938 yards and 19 TDs; and J.J. Harbin is next with 42 catches for 678 yards and six touchdowns.
Quardarel Martin's 848 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns lead the team, while Russell has 371 yards and eight TDs on the ground.
"What they've been able to do is mighty impressive and Russell is as good as I've ever seen," South Panola coach Lance Pogue said.
"The thing that's unfair to both of these teams is that most people aren't going to remember what they've accomplished up until this point. They're only going to remember who wins Friday."
