The Gentry High Rams are going from playing their big rivalry game to playing their most challenging game of the season to date.
After improving their record to 2-1 following last Friday’s 22-6 road victory over cross-county rival Ruleville Central, the Rams will welcome the highly ranked North Panola Cougars of Sardis to town.
This Friday’s 7 p.m. contest brings to the Gentry High field a 3-0 Cougars squad which is ranked No. 2 among all 3A schools and fresh off a 34-22 victory over Lafayette County High of Oxford.
“North Panola is a very good football team”, said Gentry Head Coach Tavares Johnson. “They are a sound ball club, full of athletes, seniors, and experience. This will be a good test for us.”
The Rams are hoping to repeat the effort given during last week’s win over Ruleville Central, a performance which Coach Johnson described as “Exciting as a coach. We played hard the entire game, we played at a high level defensively, and we were able to run the ball on offense.”
This Friday’s match-up with North Panola High appears to be the first-ever football meeting between these two schools and the Cougars have thus far claimed wins this season over Coahoma County High by a 50-0 margin and a strong Tunica Rosa Fort High squad by a 20-13 margin.
Last season, North Panola completed their campaign in the second round of the 3A playoffs and with a 10-3 record.
In last Friday’s 22-6 road victory over Ruleville Central High, the Rams’ defense was stellar as it allowed only a three-yard second period touchdown run by the Tigers to spoil a shutout bid.
However, in that same second quarter the Rams would post what proved to be all the points necessary to claim the game when sophomore quarterback Joshujuan Townsend scampered seven yards into the end zone for the touchdown.
Timothy Johnson then crashed over for the two-point conversion and Gentry High owned an 8-6 lead, which stood through the first half of play.
The game then remained scoreless until the final period when the Rams posted a pair of touchdowns to take the score to its final 16-point margin.
Following a blocked punt by Sharmarvious Hodges, the Rams’ offensive unit took advantage of the opportunity when junior Juaquone White subsequently raced five yards for the touchdown.
Kajarvus Williams then punched in the two point conversion to give the Rams a 16-6 lead.
The final score of the night occurred moments later when sophomore running back Tyler Edwards sprinted 31 yards for a touchdown.
Offensively, the Rams rushed for 210 yards on 37 carries as Edwards and Townsend paced this attack with 77 and 75 yards respectively.
Through the air, Townsend completed six of his 12 passes for 27 yards.
Defensively, linebacker Armani Bell was a force as the sophomore registered 10 tackles, four sacks, and four tackles for loss.
Also active this night was senior LaDaron Longmire, who recorded nine tackles, two sacks, and a pair of tackles for loss.
