By Robert Hudson

The Selma Times-Journal

In a game that came down to the final possession, the Southside Panthers could not overcome their own mistakes, as they fell 20-16 to the Choctaw County Tigers in the final game of the season.

Southside head football coach Bertrum Crum said the Panthers (1-9, 1-6) were hampered by mistakes in their home loss to the Tigers (2-8, 1-6).

“We just made too many mental mistakes,” Crum said. “It’s just frustrating when we’re in position to make plays and we turn around and look for someone else to make a play, but we’re right there capable of making it ourselves.”

Trailing by four with 1:44 left in the game, the Panthers took over on their own 20-yard line after Choctaw missed a 24-yard field goal.

After two straight incomplete passes, the Panthers would get a break as a Tigers’ pass interference penalty moved Southside to the 35-yard line.

The Tigers would hold tough, forcing Southside to a 4th-and-12 situation with 0:20 left in the game.

The Panthers would come up big as quarterback Christopher Raymond scrambled and broke 33 yards to give Southside life with 0:04 left, but Raymond failed to get out of bounds as time expired before the Panthers could stop time with a spike.

The Tigers racked up 373 yards of total offense—113 through the air and 260 on the ground.

Southside was held to 159 yards of total offense.

The scoring began late in the first, as Tigers’ quarterback Jurmarcus Mitchell snuck up the middle going untouched for a 79-yard touchdown to give Choctaw a 6-0 lead after a failed two-point conversion attempt with 0:30 left in the opening quarter.

But the Panthers would respond immediately, as Jarmarcus Brown weaved through the Tigers’ kick coverage, returning the ensuing kickoff 95-yards for a touchdown.

Zollie Glover would run in the two-point conversion to give the Panthers an 8-6 lead with 0:11 left in the first quarter.

The Tigers would respond on their next possession, driving 73 yards, capped off by a 9-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell to receiver Rashard Deloach to make the score 12-8 with 7:33 left in the second quarter.

The Panthers would answer back with time ticking away in the half, as Raymond would cap off a 25-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Brown to give the Panthers a 16-14 lead with 0:38 left in the first half.

The deciding touchdown would come in the third after the Tigers recovered a Panthers’ fumble on the Southside 21-yard line.

The Tigers would take the lead on a 2-yard touchdown run up the middle by running back Javontae Jackson.