The Petal Panthers didn’t need to win the final four games of the season to clinch their 11th straight postseason appearance. After winning their last three games with one to go, others in the region beat up on each other enough for Petal to earn a playoff spot with a 3-3 region record.
Petal will host Terry Thursday night to end the regular season, but a playoff date with Gulfport is set for the following week.
“Fortunately for us, some other teams won that needed to win or teams lost that needed to lose. However you want to look at it,” Petal coach Marcus Boyles said. “I’m really proud of our kids and I thought they really battled hard these last few weeks. Our backs were against the wall and people doubted that we’d make the playoffs.
“Our kids really rallied together. I think they came together as a team and I’m very proud of them, our coaching staff and all the hard work that went into every week. We got ready to play.”
Four weeks ago, this game with Terry looked like it was going to be a deciding factor if Petal would make the postseason or not. Now, Friday’s game will only matter in terms of momentum because the Panthers are locked into the fourth seed.
Even though a loss won’t hurt Petal’s playoff standing, it’s an important contest.
“As a competitor, anytime you get a chance to compete against someone, you need to give it your best effort,” Boyles said. “Going into the playoffs, it’ll be huge to be on a four-game winning streak. That’s a lot of momentum and a confidence booster for our kids.”
The Bulldogs’ offense has a lot of moving parts, and they’ve struggled to find consistency in the last four games. During Terry’s four-game losing streak, it’s only been able to muster 26 points through 192 minutes of game action. Meanwhile, teams have totaled 98 points.
Six different players have more than 200 rushing yards for Terry, but none have more than 500 yards. The Bulldogs average 197 rushing yards a game to just 38 passing yards, too.
“Offensively, they have a lot of different personnel and formations,” Boyles said. “They change week to week and they’ll play two or three different quarterbacks, so it’s kind of hard to answer. They do have some good receivers and they’re trying to find the right quarterback to get those guys the ball.”
Defensively, as previously stated, Terry gives up a ton of points to its opponents. Before the four-game losing streak, the defense put together solid performances. Besides Brandon’s 40-point performance, Terry’s defense held its first five opponents to less than 14 points.
The Bulldogs were 4-1 in those games and they’re 1-5 since.
“Defensively, they’re really fast like they always are,” Boyles said. “Terry always has good athletes. They’re either going to be a four-man front or a three-man front. They change it up on you so we have to prepare for both.”
