Not long after Quitman coach Steve Bynum addressed his team postgame, a couple of his players snuck behind him and unloaded the contents of their orange Gatorade cooler on his neck and back. 

Bynum let out a yell before jokingly telling his players they’ll pay for it Monday. For now, there was plenty for the Panthers to celebrate.

Quitman rode a strong defensive performance to a 40-26 win over Northeast Lauderdale Friday night to keep the Panthers in the thick of the Region 5-4A standings.

After opening 0-1 in region play, Quitman (5-5, 3-1) has now rattled off three straight region wins to remain alive. 

“We put our backs against the wall coming into district play and dropping one to West Lauderdale, who is a great team, but we felt like we didn’t play up to our potential and capability and it put us against the wall losing that first district game,” Bynum said. “Our backs have been against the wall for three weeks, and our kids have responded, and they’ve played some of their best football. This is when you want to get hot.”

Quitman’s defense again found its back against the wall on Northeast Lauderdale’s (6-4, 2-2) opening possession of the night, but a forced fumble that was scooped up and returned 99 yards for a touchdown by Kingston Jordan to give Quitman the game’s opening score and a 7-0 lead. 

The Panthers would not trail the rest of the night. 

“The 99-yard fumble return was a big swing for them,” Northeast Lauderdale coach Curt Blackburn said. “Our kids came in and they played hard the whole game… Hats off to the kids — they played really hard. It hurts, but we have to rebound.” 

Quitman added another score late in the first quarter when quarterback Jed Lewis connected with wide receiver Kesean Johnson for a 49-yard touchdown to push the lead to 14-0.

Northeast Lauderdale found the end zone for the first time of the night with 34 seconds left in the second quarter. Trojans wide receiver Jarvis Cook pulled in a 5-yard touchdown from quarterback Kamerion Hulin.

Quitman’s defense was opportunistic in the first half, forcing two Northeast Lauderdale fumbles. 

Panthers fullback Tydrekius Carpenter broke off a 26-yard scoring run in the third to give Quitman a 14-point lead, but Cook took the ensuing kick off 77 yards for a touchdown. Lewis hit Latrell Hatten for a 30-yard touchdown strike late in the third.

Northeast Lauderdale responded in the fourth with a 1-yard scoring run from Hulin to make the score 27-20 in Quitman’s favor. Another Lewis touchdown run from 1 yard out extended the Panthers lead to 33-20, but Hulin raced 11 yards for a touchdown with 7:13 remaining in the game to bring the Trojans within seven points of tying.

Northeast Lauderdale received the football with under a minute left to play, but Hulin’s pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Panthers defensive end Jaycolby Williams.

“This is when you want to play your best football — down the stretch and in division play,” Bynum said. “We have one more week. We have a great team in Mendenhall rolling in, obviously. We’re going to have our hands full, but this momentum sure helps us going into that ball game. You just don’t know how proud I am of these guys.”

Up next: Northeast Lauderdale travels to West Lauderdale, and Quitman hosts Mendenhall.