Petal is now fighting to keep its playoff hopes alive after suffering a 32-7 loss to top-ranked Brandon last week.
“(The mindset now) is week by week,” Petal coach Allen Glenn said. “You have got to focus on having basically a one-week season.
“Everything that we still want to accomplish is still kind of in front of us. In our league, everybody has kind of beaten everybody except for Brandon, who is undefeated. I think moving forward, in these last four games, a lot can happen for a lot of different teams. All of our efforts and attention goes to Northwest Rankin this week.”
Petal’s next four games include Northwest Rankin, Meridian, Warren Central and Terry. The path to turning things around doesn’t get much easier as the Panthers face Northwest Rankin (2-4, 2-1), which has managed to overcome an 0-3 start. The Cougars opened region play with two straight wins but were narrowly defeated by Warren Central in a 35-28 loss last week.
The biggest reason for the turnaround is the Cougars’ offense. In the first three games of the season, Northwest Rankin averaged 14 points per game, but in the last three have had that number jump to 34 points per game. Running back Dylan Lewis has been the main reason for the Cougars’ success. Through five games, Lewis has rushed for 667 yards and eight touchdowns.
“He’s a good player,” Glenn said. “He’s a good 6A football player. He’s a guy that runs extremely hard. He has speed as well. He’s a guy that we have to wrap up and get down on the ground. Their offensive line is good up front. It’s just another opponent in our league that’s a well-coached team, and I’m sure they will be ready to play on Friday.”
However, in the passing game, things are still not stable, with Northwest Rankin having to use three different quarterbacks this year. Taking the bulk of the snaps is Wesley White, who, in five games, has thrown for 426 yards, four touchdowns and six interceptions. The team’s top target is Brendan Brown, who has 23 catches for 298 yards and five touchdowns.
“I think they have kind of settled on one (quarterback),” Glenn said. “But we’re going to prepare for what they do. Schematically, what they do doesn’t change depending on what quarterback is in the game. They are going to do what they do offensively, so the game plan doesn’t change.”
Defensively, Northwest Rankin has allowed an average of 38 points per game. Notably, Brown and Lewis also play on defense, and each player has two interceptions.
“They are a little different on defense compared to last year,” Glenn said. “They have a new defensive coordinator. They are a little different schematically. They are definitely better. They are playing with some youth on that side of the ball, but I think they are playing with a little confidence.”
Petal hosts Northwest Rankin at Panther Stadium, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
