Southside Panthers beat Francis Marion in high-scoring Homecoming win

Southside High's football team beat Francis Marion in a high-scoring game for Southside's Homecoming on Friday night.

The Panthers took the win against the Rams 64-40.

Southside quarterback Roosevelt Towns Jr. found Deandre Gardner quickly in the opening minutes to put points on the board for the Panthers. The Rams responded by gaining major yards to score with 9 minutes remaining to playing in the first quarter.

Towns found Derrick Smith late in the first quarter who also found his way in the end zone. Towns was able to get the extra 2 points to make the score 14-6. The Panthers' defense forced the Rams to fumble the ball with 5:46 left to play and Towns was able to find Erick Smith to put the Panthers up 20-6. The Rams failed to score, causing the Panthers to get the ball back. Towns threw an interception, but the Panthers forced another fumble to recover the ball. Ernie Campbell was able to find his way in the end zone and Towns put 2 extra points on the board. Southside ended the first quarter in the lead over Francis Marion 28-6.

The Panthers maintained the Rams until 6:38 in the second quarter, when the Rams managed to get in the end zone to make the score 28-12. Towns threw another interception late in the second quarter and the Rams capitalized and scored, making the score 28-20 before half time. Towns bounced back and was also able to score before the half and Xavier Neely got the extra two points. The Rams answered back before the half as well, ending the second quarter 36-26.

To kick off the third quarter, Towns found Derrick Smith in the end zone to increase the Panthers' lead. Towns also scored the extra points. The Rams answered swiftly to make an attempt to close the gap, but Southside’s Ernie Campbell broke loose to keep the Panthers in the lead comfortably.

Derrick Smith came up with a big interception with one minute left in the third. The Panthers took advantage as Towns found Erick Smith to score for the Panthers. Smith intercepted the ball again with 21 seconds left in the third quarter and ran the ball in for a touchdown down. The Panthers secured the extra two points to end the third quarter with the score 64-32 in favor of the Panthers.

The Rams tried to hang in the game by scoring again in the fourth quarter.  Towns threw an interception late in the fourth quarter, but the Rams failed to take advantage. The Panthers were able to prevent the Rams from putting anymore points on the board. The Panthers took the win with the final score being 64-40.