BATESVILLE – Either it was too cold or the South Panola faithful felt very little about the chances of the Vicksburg Gators against their top-ranked Tigers last Friday night.

Tiger Stadium was barely 1/3 full for the Class 5A playoff game between the Tigers and Gators. The 8,000 or so Tigers fans who were said to pack the stadium during the season, did not materialize.

For its part, Vicksburg made a game of it, trailing just 27-7 early in the fourth quarter.

Then South Panola dropped a bomb when quarterback Leroy Diggs hit receiver Rodney Gray for a game-breaking 49-yard touchdown pass. The score put the Tigers up 34-7.

They added a late touchdown to extend the state’s longest current winning streak to 42 games after the 41-7 romp.

Diggs, a junior, follows in the line of last year’s remarkable quarterback in Derek Pegues, but with a better arm.

&#8220He can throw the ball,” South Panola coach Ricky Woods said of Diggs, who was 2-of-3 passing for 57 yards against the Gators.

Diggs can also run. His 49-yard touchdown run helped extend South Panola’s lead to 27-0 in the third quarter.

&#8220The quarterback is the difference,” VHS coach Alonzo Stevens said of Diggs. &#8220He’s one of their best athletes and he can make all the plays.”

Still, Vicksburg showed that they may not be that far away from challenging the state’s elite teams in the immediate future.

&#8220Our best football is yet to come,” Stevens said.

The loss ended the Gators’ season with a 7-5 record. The season’s highlight was, no doubt, the 10-0 win over Warren Central, the first-ever VHS win at Viking Stadium on Nov. 12.

&#8220We had a great group of seniors and we achieved a lot this season,” Stevens said.

One of the players Stevens will be able to count on next season is nose guard Ryan Walker, who made an impact on the Gators’ defensive front after joining the team as an evacuee from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

&#8220I’m going to be back here for Vicksburg next year and we hope to meet up with South Panola again,” Walker said. &#8220We’ve got a lot of good linemen coming back like Mark Cabatay, David Williams and Brian Pierce along with a lot of our offensive skill people.”

As Walker was speaking, South Panola lineman Josh Boren came up to congratulate Walker and his team.

&#8220Man, I just had to tell you what great technique you have,” Boren, the Tigers’ starting center, said to Walker.

Then it was mentioned that the pair had faced each other last year when Walker’s Carver Rams took on South Panola in Batesville.

&#8220Now, I remember you,” Boren said.

Walker and the Gators hope to give their fans something to remember next year.