Wide receiver Jherquaveus Sanders knows what the West Lowndes football team was up against.
The Panthers had just a 4-7 record in 2017, and it dipped to 2-9 last season. They came into the 2019 season on a five-game losing streak.
But West Lowndes redoubled its efforts. Older players coaxed younger players into spending more time in the weight room, Sanders said. And things began to turn around.
The Panthers finished the regular season 8-3 and begin postseason play Friday at No. 3 Biggersville (9-1), hoping to start a run that looked improbable around this time last season.
“It’s just a blessing to be able to play in the playoffs my senior year,” Sanders said.
West Lowndes missed out on the No. 3 seed in Class 1A, Region 2 after last week’s 35-6 loss to Tupelo Christian Prep, settling for the No. 4 seed instead.
“I think that loss really helped us focus in this week, because if we lose this one, we’re out,” senior Albert Plair said.
The Panthers scored the first points of Friday’s ballgame and only trailed 14-6 at the half, but in the second half, they just lost focus.
“We were very undisciplined,” King said.
Playing in the cold didn’t help. King said many of his players couldn’t feel their feet, and Sanders noted the difficulty of running routes in the near-freezing conditions.
The Panthers practiced outside during this week’s chilly afternoons to truly get the feel of playoff football. An extra pair of socks, Plair and junior running back Marcquez Holliday said, always helps, and so do long sleeves and tights — but perhaps the biggest hurdle is a mental one.
“It’s just really a mind thing,” Plair said. “It’s just getting used to the weather.”
That’ll be critical against a Biggersville team that loves to run the ball and is likely to do so even more in the cold, though King said the matchup could work in the Panthers’ favor.
“We’re a lot better at stopping the run than we are at stopping the pass,” King said.
So it’s perhaps fortunate that by missing out on the No. 3 seed, the Panthers avoided a date with pass-heavy Baldwyn and got the run-dominant Lions instead.
“The matchup fits us a lot better,” King said.
When the Panthers have the ball, the Lions play a lot of press coverage, Sanders said. That’s fine with him; he’s happy to try to beat the defense over the top.
One of the team’s leaders, the senior knows he’ll have to deliver his best performance if the Panthers can hope for a victory.
“This could be my last game as a West Lowndes Panther, so I most definitely do want to come out with the win,” he said.
King knows the stakes are high — and that his players are prepared.
“You win, you stay in; you lose, you’re out,” he said. “Guys know they don’t have anything else to do but go out and try to get the win. We’ve got nothing to lose, so let’s go out and play our best ball.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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