MERIDIAN —     There was the interception on the first play after taking a lead and a return into Petal territory. It turned into a three-and-out. Twice, Meridian High had first down inside the Petal 15 that became a turnover on downs and a Panther interception.

    The Wildcats had Petal backed into a second-and-long up against its own end zone when the Panthers broke free for a 51-yard scamper. And MHS needed just one more stop to force a field goal that would give it a chance but the Panthers managed to reach pay dirt.

    So many chances to make a big play. And so many missed opportunities. As a result, Petal escaped Ray Stadium with a 23-21 win Friday night to clinch the Division 3-6A crown and put the Wildcats' playoff hopes into someone else's hands. Meridian fell to 6-3 and 2-3 in the division. It's the first time since 2002 that Meridian has lost more than two division games, which was also the last time the Wildcats missed the postseason. MHS currently is sixth in the division, one game behind a second-place logjam of Brandon, Hattiesburg, Natchez and Oak Grove.

    "Mistakes," Meridian coach Larry Weems said. "It was missed opportunities.

    "That's the difference in close ballgames. It's very, very small. We made a couple more mistakes than they did. We had some opportunities but they made some big plays and we didn't. That's what a team does to win close ballgames."

    With seven minutes remaining in the game, the Panthers (8-1 and 5-0 in the division) faced a second-and-17 from their own 14 when Larson Barkurn found a hole and cut back across the field for a 51-yard run to put Petal in business. Six plays later, the Panthers had a first-and-goal at the MHS 3 with a chance to put a dagger in the Wildcats. However, a botched snap on first down lost two yards and Bo Waites was stuffed for no gain on second down. Barkurn, though, again came up with a big play on third down as he outran the Wildcats' defense to the pylon on a bootleg that put the Panthers up 23-14 with 2:25 left.

    "They were going on the outside and we tell them on the perimeter," Weems said. "If we make that play, we hold them to a field goal and, maybe they play different defensively, but I know they don't have 23. If we go down and score, we win the game."

    Meridian did answer, albeit too little too late. After Issac Johnson returned the kickoff to the MHS 49, the Wildcats scored 13 plays later after twice converting fourth downs. Sophomore quarterback J-Mar Smith scrambled for 10 yards on a fourth-and-5 and then picked up 11 more on a fourth-and-1 draw. Smith, who rushed for 70 yards and threw for 231 on 18 of 35 passing, then scored on a leap into the end zone from 1 yard out with 15 seconds left to pull the Wildcats within 23-21.

    Petal recovered the ensuing onsides kick and ran out the clock.

    "That's what I thought we were going to get out of Meridian," Petal coach Marcus Boyles said. "Great effort by them with their backs against the wall and they knew they had to win.

    "There's a lot of character on this team. Kids don't want to give up and want to fight. We were basically playing for pride and I thought we did a pretty good job of it. It wasn't always pretty but sometimes the other team has something to do with that."

    It was the second big special teams play for the Panthers. After Meridian grabbed a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter when Smith hit Richard E. McQuarley on 21-yard touchdown pass, Jamarcus Revies provided an immediate response. The senior took the kickoff at the 10 and raced through the MHS coverage unit for a 90-yard touchdown return.

    "We have some playmakers and Jamarcus is one of those," Boyles added. "He got us going on special teams to put us on the board.

    "Big play."

    Trailing 10-7 after Petal hit a 30-yard field goal less than a minute into the second quarter, the Wildcats regained the lead with 7:47 left before halftime. There, Austin Holt, who rushed for 93 yards on 18 carries, bounced off a pair of Petal defenders on a 6-yard run one play after Johnson hauled in a 34-yard pass in between two defenders.

    Meridian then had a chance to pull away. On the first play of Petal's next possession, Barkurn was picked off by C.J. Hampton, who returned it to the Panthers 44. However, the Wildcats netted just seven yards on three plays and had to punt.

    One quarter later, the Wildcats again had a chance to gain some breathing room. After quickly moving to the Petal 14, MHS gained nine yards on a pair of Holt runs and a Smith keeper. Facing a fourth-and-1 from the Petal 5, Smith was stopped inches shy of a first down with 4:46 remaining in the third.

    The Panthers then drove 95 yards to go ahead for good when Barkurn and Revies hooked up from 14 yards out with less than a minute to go in the period. Barkurn completed just 5 of 12 passes for 57 yards, but did rush for 65 yards on nine carries as the Panthers, who had just 91 yards of total offense at halftime ended up rushing for 233 yards. Waites had a game-high 107.

    "Marcus and them have a good team and they played hard," Weems said. "We played hard. This was no weak ballgame. This was two pretty good teams getting after it pretty dang hard, jaw to jaw."

    Meridian responded with a drive of its own, again reaching the Petal red zone with a first down at the Panthers 12. But on third down from the 10, Smith was picked off by Trevor Williams.

    "We bent, bent, bent but never broke," Boyles said.