It’s a rematch and the Brookhaven Panthers have a score tosettle. The Panthers are out to avenge a 28-14 regular-season lossto South Pike and this time it’s Friday night in the second roundof the Class 4A state playoffs. Kickoff is 7 p.m. on KingField.

Brookhaven senior safety Josh Crawford accounted for 10 tacklesand an interception in last Friday’s 21-7, opening round playoffvictory at East Central. It was Crawford’s first pass theft of theseason and it came during first quarter action.

Crawford anticipates a strong defensive effort against SouthPike tomorrow night. “We’ll play how we’ve been coached to play.The coaches put us in the right spot. We just have to execute.”

Crawford said Brookhaven’s defense is playing as a family unit.”Our secondary must trust the linebackers and our linebackers musttrust our defensive line. You have to trust your brother on defenseand we all have to trust in our offense.”

Sophomore running back Darius Perkins provided an offensivespark for the Panthers against East Central. He ran 80 yards for atouchdown on the first play from scrimmage. He finished with 12carries for 122 yards and 3 touchdowns. He caught 2 passes for 35yards.

“The blocking was good,” said Perkins. “We ran a 14 Gut,” on the80-yard TD jaunt. “The hole opened up and I ran it.”

Perkins also is looking forward to playing South Pike again.”Last time they didn’t beat us; we beat ourselves. We musteliminate our mistakes. We have improved a lot since that firstgame.”

Peavey, 40, is in his first year as head coach at BHS. A 1980BHS grad, he has spent most of his coaching career on the collegelevel.

“Our kids are excited about playing South Pike again,” saidPeavey. “We are a better team then we were the first time. I’m sureSouth Pike is better, too.”

Reflecting on the first meeting with the Eagles, Peavey said,”We made some mistakes in the kicking game There was a 3-touchdownswing because of that.”

A fumbled punt return, deep in Brookhaven territory, set up thefirst Eagle touchdown. Still in the first quarter, an 82-yard puntreturn by Jessie Burton gave South Pike a 14-0 lead.

Peavey said the Panthers played well against East Central. “Ourkicking game was good against East Central. It was a pretty solidgame, overall. Our kids played hard and that’s what our firstobjective is, to play hard in each game.”

On defense, LaKendrick Maxwell led the Panthers over EastCentral with 11 tackles. Julius Lloyd had 8 solo tackles, 1 sackand a forced fumble. Belma Cager also had 8 tackles. EmanuelPerkins blocked a field goal attempt and made 7 tackles. JesseBowman also had 7 tackles.

South Pike In High Gear

Wall said his Eagles, runners-up to Class 4A state championClarksdale last year, have geared up for the stretch run and areplaying better. They whipped McComb 42-12 in the season finale asquarterback Fred Jones passed for 4 touchdowns.

“We had the big game against McComb, probably the best game weplayed all year, offensively and defensively,” said Wall.

Last week the Eagles played St. Stanislaus, the No. 4 team outof Division 8-4A, and whipped the Rock-a-Chaws 42-8 as QuentrelleGreen caught 3 passes for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns, plusreturning a punt for a TD.

“Fred has thrown the ball well the last few weeks,” aid Wall.”He has made the big plays for us. How Fred goes is how we go.”Jones (5-6, 145) also punts and plays safety on defense.

Wall said records don’t count in the state playoffs. “It’splayoff time. Anybody can beat anybody this time of year. It’s hardto beat somebody two times in one year. There won’t be a lot ofsurprises this time around.”

Reviewing game films of the Panthers’ losses to McComb and SouthPike, Wall said, “Brookhaven dug themselves in a grave against usand McComb. Both games could have been different.”

Wall said turnovers and mental mistakes are decisive in footballgames. “It will be the ones who make the fewest mistakes. It shouldbe hard-fought game from start to finish.”

Wall said his team must concentrate on containing Brookhavensophomore quarterback Jimmy Johns who is a running and passingthreat. Johns completed 13 of 31 passes for 181 yards but wasintercepted 3 times in the first meeting with South Pike. He alsorushed 22 times for 84 yards.

“From a defensive standpoint, we are pretty healthy,” said Wall.”Last time we didn’t do a good job containing Johns. He hurt usmore running the ball than throwing it last time.”

Panther Paws: Wall, 55, in his 31st year ofhead coaching, returned to South Pike last year after spending 5years at Brookhaven. He had coached the Eagles for 25 years beforecoming to BHS where he posted a 35-17 record, including a 12-1 markin 1997.