The Selma High Saints (1-0) marched into Southside High School (0-2) through the rain and set a school record for points scored against the Panthers in the 60-20 win on Friday night.

The Saints crossed the goal line for nine touchdowns, and Selma’s marching band played “When The Saints Go Marching In,” each time.

The Saints offense used their depth and tempo to wear down the Southside Panthers throughout the night.

“We are happy with the win,” Selma High assistant coach De’Andre Wilson said. “We started off slow. We have some things that we need to work on as far as starting off strong. But it’s a good win for the guys. A good win for their confidence, but at the same time we still have a lot to work on.”

Selma’s quarterback Tyreshon Freeman finished the game with three passing touchdowns, two interceptions and two rushing touchdowns. He completed just four of his 10 pass attempts, but the Saints ground game gave the team a comfortable lead.

Freeman and his two running backs, Amarian Molette and Nicholas Parnell, did the heavy lifting on the ground. Molette had 115 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns and a 60-plus yard kickoff return touchdown. Parnell only had 33 rushing yards, but racked up his yards on a 60-plus yard kickoff return touchdown. He also scored two 2-point conversions for the Saints.

Freeman rushed for 91 yards.

“Offense worked good tonight,” Freeman said. “I trusted my o-line to block and protect me. I just felt comfortable back there.”

The Panthers started the game off strong, but struggled to keep up with Selma’s pace. Southside was the first team on the board when quarterback Malik Johnson threw a quick pass to his receiver Keishon Williams on the opening drive that went for a 55-yard touchdown. The extra-point gave Southside its first-and-only lead of the game.

“I felt like we had a strong start, but I knew we had to keep on going because I knew Selma had more depth than we had,” Southside head coach Daniel Flowers said. “I felt that was the key to the game. They had more depth and that hurt us.”

All of Southside’s scoring was from Johnson. He completed a 10-yard pass to receiver Derrick Griffin in the second quarter, and a 17-yard pass to Griffin in the third quarter for scores. The Panthers only missed one extra-point attempt.

The Panthers had a few highlight plays on defense, but were already too far behind for the turnovers to make a difference.

“We made some good plays,” Flowers said. “

The Panthers recovered a fumble in the second quarter when they were already trailing 28-7.

Southside defensive back Jarvis Henderson got an interception in the second quarter, but the Saints had already put another six-points on the scoreboard.

Williams also got an interception for the Panthers in the third quarter, but the team still trailed 42-14.

“No disrespect, those boys played some good ball,” Flowers said. “I just feel like their depth wore us down. Our boys played their best, and they still beat us by 40. Selma had a good game plan and they executed it well.”

The Saints extended its all-time series lead over Southside to 30-6.

Next Friday, Sept. 7, the Saints enter region play and go on the road to play No. 8 Opelika.

“This gives us confidence going into the next region game,” Freeman said.

Southside also plays on the road next week against region opponent Dadeville. After two weeks playing Class 6A opponents, the Panthers will have their first matchup against a fellow Class 3A team.

“This first few games is gonna make men out of us,” Flowers said. “I don’t think any team in the state played the schedule we played the first two games of the season. I wanted it to be tough, and this was the type of game to make our team tough.”