The regular season is wrapped up and the Brookhaven High Panthers are ready for the playoffs after getting a 36-20 win on Thursday night at Natchez High.

BHS and coach Tucker Peavey are 9-1 and winners of Region 3-5A with a perfect 5-0 league mark. It’s the first region championship for the Panthers since 2017.

Brookhaven High will host Vancleave High (5-5) Friday on King Field for the first round of the MHSAA 5A playoffs. Vancleave lost 56-34 to Wayne County on Thursday in a game that decided third and fourth place in Region 4-5A.

Last year, Vancleave visited BHS in the first round of the 5A postseason, a game won 55-7 by the Panthers.

The winner of the Brookhaven and Vancleave game will move on to face the winner between Stone County (5-5) and Florence High (6-4) in the quarterfinals.

The other side of the 5A South bracket has South Jones (8-3) hosting Wayne County (4-7) and Gautier High (9-1) hosting Natchez High (6-5).

The four first round matchups in the 5A North bracket are West Point (7-3) and Yazoo City (4-6), Holmes County Central (7-3) against Corinth (6-4), Cleveland Central (10-0) taking on Pontotoc (5-4), and New Hope (8-2) facing Canton High (7-3).

Also on Thursday, Stone beat East Central 24-6, Gautier topped Laurel High 42-6, South Jones defeated North Pike 23-8, and Florence dispatched Provine 35-0.

The game at Natchez started well for the Panthers after the home team had a special teams miscue that ended with safety for BHS, as the Bulldogs could not successfully punt from their own endzone.

For the second straight week, the Panthers got on the board via a big-man touchdown to start the game. BHS offensive lineman Zac Richardson took a short handoff and scored to cap the drive following the free-kick after the safety.

Trailing 9-0, Natchez got an explosive play to pull within 9-6 when quarterback Kaden Walton hit Ken Chatman for an 80-yard scoring pass.

The Panthers put together a strong drive after seeing the score cut to 9-6. An 11-play march down the field ended with a 10-yard touchdown run by junior Caiden Quarles on 3rd-and-7 to start the second quarter and put BHS ahead 16-6.

Natchez rarely punted after that early safety, choosing instead to go for it on fourth down on multiple drives in the first half. After the Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs, Quarles put together another couple of big runs, including his second touchdown of the game to go ahead 23-6.

Quarles scored his third rushing touchdown of the first half with three seconds left in the second quarter as the Panthers led 29-6 at the break.

Walton and Chatman hooked up for another passing touchdown to pull Natchez within 29-12 in the third quarter.

The Panthers immediately responded with another long touchdown run by Quarles, his fourth of the game, to put BHS up 36-12.

Quarles was an absolute work horse in the win, rushing 39 times for 256 yards, four scores, and 6.6 yards per carry. On the season, he has rushed for 978 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Natchez didn’t go away though, scoring again when Walton found Chatman to make the game 36-20 to end the third quarter on a play that also ended the scoring for the night.

It’s a credit to the NHS offense, as the 20 points scored by them is the most given up by BHS this season since a 35-30 loss at Northwest Rankin in late September.

Walton went 12-of-22 for 226 yards. Chatman made five catches for 181 yards and three touchdowns.

Freshman linebacker Hampton Smith made a team high 12 tackles for the Ole Brook defense. Junior defensive end Jeremy Bibbs had nine tackles, including six for a loss to go along with two sacks. Senior defensive tackle Christian Jones also added a sack for the Panthers up front.

Defensive backs Cortavian Dixon and Tanner Hardy, a sophomore and freshman respectively, each snagged an interception for the Panthers. That puts BHS with 18 interceptions through 10 games.

Senior Jamaal Brown forced a fumble that was recovered by Smith. On the year, the BHS defense has forced 13 turnovers via fumbles.

Kickoff next week against Vancleave is scheduled for 7 p.m. on King Field.