By Alaina Denean Deshazo

The Selma Times-Journal
Southside High School added another win Friday night and moved one step closer to reaching the class 3A playoffs.  The Panthers (5-1) outplayed B.B. Comer High School (1-5) Friday night in a 46-26 victory.

“It means a lot. Just for me, as my coaching career at Southside, it’s like I could never get over that hump for a five-win season,” said Southside coach Daniel Flowers. “It’s all to the kids. The kids don’t want to lose the season. I give the kids the credit.”

The win guaranteed Southside that the Panthers will not have a losing regular season, the first time any Panthers team can say that since 2005.

Despite four turnovers, the Panthers were able to stay on top throughout most of the game.

“We had too many turnovers. We’ve got to treat that ball a little bit more with care,” Flowers said. “As long as we’re getting this out of the way now, instead of later on in the season, I’m fine with it.”

The Panthers’ DeQuan Johnson had six touchdowns on the night, starting with the second play of the game.

With less than 30 seconds off the clock, Johnson ran for a 32-yard touchdown to bring the score to 6-0. Cordell Waller ran in a two-point conversion to bring the score to 8-0.

The Tigers drove down the field on their first possession and Houston Ford found the end zone with a 5-yard run. Jacoby Kelley ran in the two-point conversion to tie the game 8-8.

A botched kickoff gave the Panthers the ball at the 50, but they quickly fumbled and the Tigers recovered.

B. B. Comer capitalized on the next play with another touchdown from Ford making the score 14-8 with 11:17 left in the second quarter.

Southside responded when Malik Johnson ran 15 yards for a touchdown and DeQuan Johnson added two more points for a 16-14 lead with 9:24 left in the second.

The Tigers fumbled the ball on the kickoff return giving the Panthers a good field position, but Southside turned the ball back over with a fumble on the 16. After two plays, B.B. Comer fumbled the ball again, giving the Panthers the ball at the 11.

After the fumble, DeQuan tacked on back-to-back touchdowns with no extra points to make the game 28-14 with 1:18 left in the second quarter.

The Panthers opened the second half of play with an onside kick recovery but they didn’t get far before throwing an interception to Corey Strickland who ran the ball back 70 yards for a Tigers touchdown to bring the score to 28-20.

Southside’s DeQuan Johnson added two more touchdowns after Edward Moore caught an interception, making the score 40-20 with 11:26 left in the fourth quarter.

After a late interception from Southside, the Tigers added on one more touchdown with 15.2 seconds left in the game.

But Southside answered with Johnson scoring one more touchdown as time expired making the final score 46-26.

“We made a bunch of mistakes tonight,” Flowers said. “But the kids, they wanted this. And they got what they worked for.”