A football team wouldn’t ordinarily be in a rush to forget a regular season that included seven wins, including one over its most bitter rival, good enough to earn a playoff berth.

But the Jemison Panthers are trying to do just that this week as they prepared for a first-round playoff visit to Beauregard.

After a 7-1 start to the season, Jemison dropped its last two games by a combined score of 101-21.

“We just need to hit the reset button, more than anything,” JHS coach Jake Hogan said. “At this point, everybody is 0-0. We had a much more intense practice [Monday] than we’ve been having. If we can reel off a couple more of those, I feel good about our chances.”

Injuries played a part in Jemison’s late-season slide, as important contributors RaeQuane Jones, Connor Lane and Kortlin Zeigler all missed time.

At Beauregard, the Panthers will find an opponent that looks very similar.

Both teams rely on run-heavy attack out of a spread formation. Beauregard has three players—Nykel Mitchell, Trey Collins and quarterback Walker Meadows—who have rushed for more than 500 yards this season.

Collins is perhaps the most dangerous threat. The senior averages 9.5 yards per carry on the ground and has scored a total of 12 touchdowns—rushing, receiving and on a 98-yard kickoff return.

Hogan likens Collins to a player who will be wearing the same jersey number.

“I think it’s going to come down to the same thing for both teams: do what you have to do stop their No. 1,” Hogan said.

Senior receiver and return specialist Randy Satterfield wears No. 1 for Jemison and is the team’s scoring catalyst any time he touches the football.

“Our key defensively is being able to take the quarterback and the running out of the situation, and make them have to throw the ball to beat us,” Hogan said.

When the Hornets take to the air, Meadows is likely to target senior Tykwane Meniefield, who has caught 28 passes for 634 yards and eight touchdowns for an average of 22.6 yards per reception and 70.4 receiving yards per game.

Visit the Alabama High School Athletic Association website to see playoff brackets for all of the state’s classifications.