Stop and consider just how long five years really is. When South Panola started its five-year reign over the state of Mississippi, racking up 89-straight wins, no member of the 2008 state champion Meridian Wildcat team was even in high school.

    Every high-school football fan in the state remembers where they were on Dec. 5, 2008 when Wildcat linebacker Jacoby Eason brought down South Panola’s David Renfroe on a shoe-string tackle to seal a 26-20 victory in overtime for the 5A state championship.

    Mississippi State quarterback Tyler Russell, who led the Wildcats that night connecting on 12-of-36 passes for 246 yards, remembers the game as if it were yesterday.

    “That’s definitely one of the biggest (games) I’ve been a part of,” Russell said. “You go to junior high and high school and you hear about how South Panola can’t be beat. But, our guys our senior year, we knew we had a great team, and if we stuck together we could make it all the way.”

    Russell isn’t alone. Ask any member of the 2008 championship team where the matchup ranks among games they played, and it is sure to be at the top of the list. Former MHS standout Shaquille Fluker, who also won a national championship at East Mississippi Community College , said nothing quite tops the South Panola game.

    “I still talk to some of the guys about it when I see them,” Fluker said. “Some guys are still at different universities, but when we come back to our hometown and see each other, we sit down and talk about it.”

    Tonight, in one of the most-anticipated regular-season games in recent history, the Wildcats will host the Tigers in front of an expected standing-room-only crowd at Ray Stadium.

    While the game has been circled since both teams announced their schedules in December, Meridian head coach Larry Weems said he sees it as just another big game at Ray Stadium.

    “There have been a lot of big games at that stadium,” Weems said. “I didn’t start coaching until 1978, and we have had a ton of them since then. We had a bunch of them before that too.     

    “I expect a really, really good football team, and if our kids don’t come out and respond, we will get embarrassed. It’s time to respond.”

    The Wildcats come into tonight’s matchup fresh off a disappointing outing last week in Quitman. While Meridian was able to come away with a 29-22 win over the Panthers, Weems said his team will have to sure up its discipline if they want to be successful against South Panola.

    “If we keep on doing the same old mess we have been doing, we ain’t going to be happy Friday night. If we do fix those things, we may give ourselves an opportunity — that’s all you can ask for.”

    Despite playing at home, Meridian enters the game a heavy underdog against the Tigers, who come in at No.1 in the Associated Press poll. Still, Weems expects a battle as he challenged his young team to step up for the occasion.

    “It’s time to get up and go,” Weems said. “We’ve got to pull up our britches, put our Pampers in the garbage and put on our big-boy pants.”