The Southside High School Panthers continually gave Greene County a short field Friday night and the Tigers took full advantage cruising to a 48-7 victory.

Head coach Bertrum Crum said the game was a case of Greene County seizing opportunities.

“They made plays when they needed to make plays and we didn’t,” he said. “They took advantage of their opportunities.”

The two teams were evenly matched in the opening quarters, ending the first tied 0-0.

Southside was the first to get on the board when quarterback Rajadavia Phillips hit on a 26-yard touchdown pass to put the Panthers up 6-0. The extra point was good giving Southside a 7-0 lead with 11:51 to go in the half.

The Tigers answered with a four play, 65-yard drive that ended with Avery Hughes hitting Clarence Brown for a 22-yard touchdown. The extra point failed leaving the score 7-6 with 8:42 to go in the half.

The Tigers again found the end zone on their next possession when Charles Powell, who led the Tigers ground attack with 189 yards on 26 carries, proved his versatility by hitting Lededrian Walker on a 21 yard touchdown pass.

The two-point conversion attempt failed leaving the score 12-7 at the half.

The second half was all Greene County. The Tigers needed only four plays to find the end zone with Powell going 20 yards for the score. The two-point conversation again failed leaving the score 18-7 with 9:55 left in the third.

Hughes then intercepted a Southside pass and returned the ball to the Panther 15, where Powell found Cyontai Lewis one play later for the score. Powell also converted the two-point try to make the score 26-7 with 5:44 remaining in the third.

The Tigers used a combination of Panther miscues and a power running game to shift into overdrive in the fourth quarter.

After the Southside punter’s knee went down while trying to field the snap, the Tigers found themselves at the Southside 11 yard line. Two plays later Hughes went up the middle for the score and added a two-point conversion to put the Tigers up 34-7.

On their next possession, Hughes again called his own number going 35 yards to make the score 40-7. Lewis added the two point conversion to make the score 42-7 with 5:45 remaining in the game.

Hughes connected with Walker for an 80 yard score to cap the Tigers’ offensive output and leave them with a 48-7 lead with 3:00 to play.

Crrum said his team must learn from their mistakes and continue to push forward.