Messenger file photo by Chris McCarthy
Southside’s hopes of a hosting in the first round of the state football playoffs were dealt a major blow on October 15 at Barney Hood Stadium.
The Panthers’ 27-26 loss to Scottsboro dropped them to fourth place in the Class 6A, Region 7 standings. Southside (5-4, 3-3) currently sits in fourth place in the region but the Panthers do have the tiebreaker against third-place Oxford, which currently is 4-1. Both first-place Arab (4-1) and second-place Fort Payne (4-1) have the tiebreaker over Southside.
Against Scottsboro for the Panthers, Gauge Nesmith (pictured above) was 21 of 34 in passing for 240 yards and two touchdowns. Damion Hitchcock had six receptions for 64 yards and a TD. Cayden McMichael caught five passes for 56 yards, while Cody Roberts caught four for 49.
Jacob Davis and Jerrod Hardin each had 11 tackles, followed by Carson Riddlespur and Broady Johnson with eight each and Tytan Rich, Ethan Light and John Gilbert with six each. Gilbert also had two sacks.
Southside has an open date this week before traveling to Etowah on October 29.