Rashad Gandy entered his first season as head coach of the Quitman football team needing to feel things out with his new slew of players, and his players needing to feel things out with their new leader.

In their Week 1 matchup against the potent Wayne County, the Panthers turned what many perceived to be an easy win for the War Eagles into a rather tough challenge. While Wayne County came away with the 28-14 victory, Quitman kept it close through much of the game and even led by a touchdown in the third quarter. 

It was an eye-opener for Gandy, especially so early in the season. 

“A lot of the thought was Wayne County was going to have their way with us, and even though we didn’t win that game, we went down there and competed,” Gandy said. “Right then I knew the guys were made out of good stuff.”

With some fine-tuning, and a shift in work ethic and discipline, the potential was there for the Panthers to capture their first winning season in half a decade and be genuine contenders come playoff time.

As the MHSAA Class 4A postseason opens this week, Quitman finds itself among the top seeds. After the loss to Wayne County and starting the year 1-3, the Panthers rattled off seven straight wins and finished the regular season Region 5-4A champions with an undefeated league record. Their first playoff opponent lies in North Pike (5-6, 2-3), which will travel to Quitman Friday.

Gandy said he believes the chemistry between him, his coaching staff and his squad has been building over the course of the season.

“A lot of work has gone into it, trying to learn the guys and the guys learning us as coaches,” he said. “(We have them) competing at a high level, just envisioning the big things. We’re keeping guys accountable, disciplined, all things of that nature.”

Those changes from last year have aided Quitman, Gandy said, in their achievement of having more wins than losses for the first time since 2014, and turning around a 5-7 record a year ago.

The Panthers picked up their first win of 2019 by beating Heidelberg 23-6, but then dropped a 41-14 contest to West Jones and a 25-6 game to Green County. They got back on track, however, defeating West Lauderdale 37-19 and Northeast Lauderdale 28-12 in back-to-back weeks before outscoring its five league foes 185-82. 

The former defensive coordinator at Hattiesburg, Gandy helped guide the Tigers to 13 straight wins last season before they fell in the 5A quarterfinals. With his experience trying to stop passing and running efforts, he has been equipped this year with an efficient offense, centered around quarterback Jed Lewis. The senior is the team leader in both passing and rushing, throwing for 1,656 yards with 20 touchdowns and running for more than 1,000 and 12 scores. 

Lewis said his squad has drastically improved under Gandy, and his capabilities throwing the ball have progressed as receivers are running better routes and getting open downfield. He also named the Panthers’ season opener as an early indicator of their promising future.

“I saw, with how we played against Wayne County, that we could make it,” Lewis said. “We found out what we could do really fast.”

Gandy said having Lewis under center has been a blessing.

“When plays break down, you’ve always got a chance when the ball’s in his hand,” he said. “Even if it doesn’t go the way it’s scripted, you’ve got a chance when Jed Lewis has the ball.”

When Quitman kicks off against the Jaguars, its defense will be matching up against a quarterback than has thrown for more than 1,700 yards and run for more than 1,100 this season, scoring 29 total touchdowns. Their starting running back has also earned more than 1,000 yards and scored 10 times on the ground.

Cornerback Lakedrick Smith said stopping the run game is the priority.

“The front line needs to hold up like a fence,” the senior said. “And the defensive backs need to keep their eyes on the backfield.” 

Gandy added that gang tackling and creating turnovers are keys for the defense, but the defensive line’s performance will be crucial.

“That’s what gets it started,” he said. “We’ve got to play consistently hard up front. If we can get that, I think we’ll be fine.”  

There’s still work to be done to make a playoff run, Gandy said, but he’s proud of what his squad’s already accomplished. 

“We’ve still got a long way to go, but where we’re at right now, I feel like we’ve covered a lot of ground from where we initially started,” he said. “There are a lot of teams that would love to be in our place, and I’m excited about the opportunity to play postseason football.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Friday at Quitman.