PETAL – As much as Petal fans want to remember and relive last Friday’s win over Oak Grove, the coaches and players must move forward because Brandon (4-3, 2-0 in Region 3-6A) comes to town this week.
“Unfortunately, it takes a couple of days to get over,” Petal coach Marcus Boyles said. “I thought we were pretty good on Monday, but not as good as we were the week before and that’s the challenge. Now let’s be better on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and that’s what we talked to our kids about (Monday).
“The same kind of focus we had for Oak Grove, we need to have the same kind of focus for Brandon.”
Like the Panthers (3-3, 1-1), the Bulldogs are very battled tested through the first seven weeks of the season. Their non-region schedule is filled with quality 6A programs, as they finished that portion of the schedule 2-3 with wins over South Panola and Clinton and losses to Madison Central, Tupelo and Northwest Rankin.
Through two weeks of region play, Brandon had a nine-point win over Terry and it dismantled George County by five touchdowns.
“Every time we get together with them it’s a highly contested game,” Boyles said.
Brandon beat Petal in the regular season last year, but the Panthers got revenge in the second round of the 6A playoffs. Boyles said he reminded his team this week the Bulldogs will look for some revenge themselves when they travel down Friday.
“They thought they had a chance to play for a state championship and we knocked them off,” Boyles said. “They’ll come in with a chip on their shoulder.”
This Brandon team has a different look than the past couple of seasons with new faces all over the field. Sophomore quarterback Will Rogers now has the reins to the offense, as he’s passed for 1,291 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions on 69 percent passing.
Rogers is the son of offensive coordinator Wyatt Rogers.
“He’s grown up with it all of his life, he knows what to do and he really takes care of the football for them,” Boyles said. “They do not have a lot of negative plays.”
Junior Jonathon Mingo and senior Bo Whatley both have more than 300 yards receiving. Mingo has hauled in 30 receptions for 386 yards and two scores and Whatley has 333 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 27 catches.
Senior Javarious Spann is the team’s leading rusher with 375 yards and seven touchdowns on 77 rushing attempts. The offense, however, only averages 74 rushing yards per game after recording nearly 150 yards on the ground last season.
Boyles thinks that’s because it’s Spann’s first year starting on varsity combined with Brandon having to replace a lot on the offensive line. It’s only a matter of time before the Bulldogs rushing attack gets going in the right direction, but Boyles wants to make sure it’s not this week.
Keeping Brandon one-dimensional will be key for the Panthers’ defense.
On the other side of the ball, the Petal offense will try to keep its momentum from last Friday going, but it’ll face a tough Brandon defense. Through seven games this season, Brandon’s defense has allowed 14 points per game, and it held George County to seven points last week and Terry to 12 the week prior.
As a unit, the Bulldogs have recorded 20 tackles for a loss, 13 sacks, five interceptions and three fumble recoveries, too.
“I think they’ve gotten better each week,” Boyles said. “There are a lot of new faces over there when you compare them to last year, but it’s still the same defense. They’re going to put a lot of pressure on you, bring a lot of blitzes, play a lot of man coverage. They’ll bring a blitz and play man, and bring a blitz and play zone, so (Petal quarterback) Jordan (Wilson) has to be on top of his game to read the coverage.”
But like Oak Grove learned last week, the Panthers have a ton of playmakers on that side of the ball. Seniors Nataurean “Phat” Watts at running back and receivers Natorian “Deuce” Watts, Marquise Bridges and Nic Russell have led the way with most of the offensive production. Junior Trent Williams, however, had a breakout game last week against the Warriors. He caught four passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns both for career-highs. His career-high for receptions was two weeks ago against Pearl when he had six.
“I thought he stepped up and made some big plays,” Boyles said. “He’s had some opportunities this year, and he’s had a couple of big catches, but he’s dropped a couple of balls. I thought Friday night he put it together, and we need him to do that.”
