The Southside Panthers rolled into Tiger Stadium in Demopolis undefeated at 4-0 to put a big scare into the Alabama 4th ranked team in Class 4-A.

Although they surrendered their first points of the season Friday night, the Demopolis Tigers beat the Southside Panthers, 35-13, in a hard-fought contest that was closer than the final score indicated.

Southside junior quarterback Ricky McConico hit Jeffrey Anderson on a look-in route. The big tight end outraced the defense for a 51-yard touchdown, the first points surrendered by Demopolis in five games this year.

The hometown crowd was stunned silent as the Panthers evened the score at 7-7 with 11:52 remaining in the first half.

The first half was highlighted by tough defense and big plays through the air by both squads.

After stopping Southside on downs at its own 44, Tigers’ quarterback Devin Godwin capped a 5-play drive with a 33-yard pass down the right sideline to Colby Roberts.

Godwin’s PAT was good, and Demopolis took an early 7-0 lead.

Southside answered with Anderson’s catch and run.

Anderson – pulling quadruple duty on the night by receiving, tackling, passing and kicking – kicked a 48-yard punt out of bounds at the Demopolis 5 with 3:50 left before intermission.

Demopolis, a perennial powerhouse, drove 95 yards in 3:07, with Godwin connecting on 4-of-6 passes for 60 yards. The drive was capped when Dusty Gracie scored on a 5-yard burst off the right guard to put the Tigers up 14-7.

“We can play with the best teams in the state of Alabama,” Southside coach Chris Raymond said. “The team that won tonight was not necessarily the best team. They just executed better than we did.”

Anderson hauled in a short pass from McConico and rambled 30 yards into Tigers’ territory late in the third period.

However, the drive stalled and the Panthers were forced to punt.

Demopolis return man Chad Schroeder fielded Anderson’s punt at his own 10 yard line and followed a crushing block down the sideline on a 40-yard return to midfield.

From there, Gracie took four straight carries to paydirt. Gracie’s final carry of the drive was a 22-yarder through the middle of the Panther defense to give Demopolis a 21-7 lead with 1:50 left in the third quarter.

But the proud Panthers continued to prowl.

McConico hit Anderson over the middle on consecutive passes covering 26 yards. Tony Myles Jr., bottled up most of the night by Demopolis’s eight-man front, took an option around the

right end for 13 yards.

From the Tigers’ 38, quarterback Travis Shine threw deep down the left sideline to Anderson, who outjumped two defenders for the catch. Anderson then grabbed the rebound and sprinted into the end zone to cut the margin to 21-13.

After both teams exchanged possessions, the Panthers went to the air.

But Demopolis standout Dontrell Miller broke up a fourth-down pass to Anderson at the Demopolis 30-yard line with just under five minutes to go.

The Tigers tacked on two touchdowns over an exhausted Panther squad in the last three minutes to pad the score.

“They’ve got a good strong team that kind of wore us down at the end,” Raymond said. “But I guarantee you, if we meet them again in the playoffs, they’ll be looking out for us.

“All our kids played hard tonight,” Raymond continued, “but Anderson was outstanding. He’s one of, if not the best, receiving tight ends in the state.

People are talking about Trinity’s Tommy Trott, but we’ve got our own in Jeffrey Anderson.

He’s going to take a lot of heat off Tony Myles and the running game.”

Anderson caught six passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns. He also had teo quarterback sacks on defense.

Myles finished with 66 yards on 13 carries for the Panthers (4-1).

Lamar Stevens turned in a superb defensive effort on the night. He was supported by Erick Wiliams, Corey Jackson, Clyde Brown and McConico.

The Panthers turn their attention to Dallas County.

The county rivals will face off Friday night at Panther Field in an area contest.