2025 HSFT Stop #56: North Panola
SARDIS, MS (WCBI)-North Panola football will be debuting a new head coach once again in 2025. Richard Russo took over the program in May, and through nearly all of fall camp, Russo has been impressed with how much his team has already bought into his culture.
“They’ve grown by leaps and bounds since we started spring ball way back in April,” Russo said. “Their work ethic has improved through the roof. We had almost 30 kids make our own cougar, which is 30 summer workouts or more. They’ve learned a great deal during fall camp. I just want to see us be something that Sardis, Como, and Crenshaw can be proud of. The whole north part of Panola County.”
One aspect of the team that Russo did not have to address: The brotherhood within the locker room. Russo believes that their togetherness will pay off long after the players are done with football.
“You know, it’s really special. When I took over, I think there were 20-something guys on the roster. Now we have 50 and they’re really coming together and special. It’s more than football. It’s more than x’s and o’s. They’re not going to remember the wins and the losses or the stats. They’re going to remember how they made each other feel and were there for each other.”
This senior class will have played under three head coaches. With so many changes each year, they have made sure to keep each other accountable through it all.
“This year we’re focused on a brotherhood game,” cornerback Rod’Kevian Holliday said. “We’re making sure we’re on the same page. Working together, really.”
“I’m pushing my teammates to build team chemistry with each other,” senior Decameron Robertson said. “We fight every day to better each other. Going hard at practice, pushing each other in a weight room, just pushing each other to the limit, the best we know we can be. We need that team chemistry when they know I’ve got their back and they have my back.”
“We had to learn to work together more as a team,” left tackle Tikylan Brown said. “No fighting. We had to prepare ourselves for the season. Conditioning, getting better in the weight room. It’s good to have brotherhood, in school, out of school, at practice, we take care of each other.”
The Russo era will get underway when North Panola opens the season against Rosa Fort on August 29.
