After spending much of the second half squandering excellent field position, the Southside Panthers found themselves backed up at their own 18.

They trailed Rehobeth 7-6 with 5:34 left in the game.

The offense, which had struggled most of the night, began to move.

Ricky McConico punched through a big hole for 10 yards.

Then three plays netted just 4 yards setting up a fourth and six at the 34 yard line with under five minutes to play.

Coach Chris Raymond could have punted.

With two time-outs, the defense could have held and gave the offense one last chance.

But, the Panthers decided to go for it right then and there.

Quarterback Darryl Watts fired the ball on a quick screen to Brian Rankin who raced ahead for 7 yards and a first down.

Three more plays netted 6 yards and Raymond rolled the dice again, this time at the 46 with 2:16 left to play.

Watts rolled left, tossed a high-arching moon ball to sophomore tight end Jeffrey Anderson back in the middle of the field.

Anderson won the jump ball and was wrestled down at the 27.

It was all over.

Quinton Coston moved to quarterback and Watts split out wide.

Coston scrambled to the 15-yard line.

He then threw a lob to the right corner of the end zone.

The defensive back went up for the interception, but receiver DeAndre Miller broke up the play.

With 52 seconds left, Raymond called the play again, but this time to Watts.

Coston threw nearly the exact same pass. The defensive back tipped it and Watts drew the ball in with his right arm before landing flat on his back in the end zone.

Pandemonium.

Somehow, the Panthers didn’t draw an excessive celebration flag and ran a two-point conversion play that came up short.

Leading 12-7, the Panthers defense just had to make it stand up against a Rehobeth team that had only passed the ball three times all night.

After an incomplete pass, Coston picked off Jason Kennedy to seal the Panthers’ improbable playoff win.

On the final, crazy drive, Watts ran the ball, threw for two key fourth-down conversions and made the game-winning catch.

On the final drive, Watts was the best player on the field. Somehow on the touchdown pass, Rehobeth only had one defender on him.

That play was only one of a handful of big plays on the final drive and not even the most amazing.

Watts’ fourth-and-four conversion lob, back across his body to Anderson, was the play that broke the Rehobeth defense.

Southside had to make the final drive because they threw away several good chances in the third quarter.

The ball was never snapped on Southside’s half of the field in the third quarter.

The Panthers were winning the field position game with defense, but the offense couldn’t get on track.

Finally on the last drive, the offensive line stepped up and allowed the big play men time to get things done.

Watts led the Panthers’ attack.

He had 65 rushing yards, 33 passing yards and the 15-yard touchdown catch.

Tony Myles left the game with an injury but finished with 49 yards.

He had the biggest run of his season however, late in the first quarter.

He broke free on a 43-yard touchdown run to answer the Rebels’ early score and keep Southside in the game.

Coston threw for 51-yards and a score.

Anderson had two catches for 40 yards.

Miller had an 11-yard catch and Rankin had two catches for 18 yards.

Rankin, Gerarde Shanks, Michael Carter and Gregory Brown all came up huge for the Southside defense.

The Rebels’ offense was basically limited to a single big play. Phillip Dubose took a sweep 67-yards to the end zone.

He finished with 97 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.

Dewitt Hogan finished with 45 yards.

The game got off to a slow start as both teams struggled with mistakes.

Watts fumbled the first snap of the game, but recovered it. Southside marched it into Rebels territory, but had to punt the ball away.

The Rebels fumbled their first snap of the game.

Two plays later, a big hit from Cedric Washington forced a punt.

Southside got the ball in Rebel territory but a trio of penalties moved the ball backwards and the Panthers punted again.

The Rebels didn’t seem to be able to make a dent in the Panthers’ defense, until on third-and-nine at the 23 they made a gaping hole.

Running a double Wing-T, the Rebels sent everybody on a sweep to the right.

Kennedy gave the ball to Phillip Debose who found a seam up the right sideline and raced all the way to the end zone for the game’s first score. The PAT made it 7-0.

Southside wasted little time answering.

Miller took an angled kickoff at the 20 and returned it all the way to the Rebels’ 45.

After a 3-yard run from Eric Williams, Myles broke off one of the biggest runs of his career.

He picked his way to the left, waiting for a hole to open.

A big one did, to the right, and the power back exploded to it.

He was in the clear and in the end zone before the Rebel defense knew what hit it.

Just a minute and five seconds after Rehobeth scored, Southside cut the lead to a point.

It stayed there because the PAT try missed.

The defenses rebounded and played well the rest of the way.

The Rebels almost put Southside in a bigger hole going into the half.

With just over a minute left, the Rebels punted the ball and pinned the Panthers deep at their own 7.

Myles was hit for a loss.

He danced back across the goal line, flirting with a safety but made it back out.

The Panthers fumbled the ball away on third down, but the play was whistled dead. The ball stayed with the Panthers who were able to run out the clock on the half.

The Rebels took the opening kick of the second half, but a fumble on third-and-four was recovered by Southside’s Gregory Brown at the 33.

Coston hit Anderson down to the 19, but Watts was picked off on a tough play over the middle.

Watts’ pass split Southside’s Cory Jackson and Rehobeth’s O’Neal Harris.

Both players got their hands on the ball, but Harris wrestled it away at the 7-yard line.

The rest of the third quarter went that way.

The Southside defense held and forced the punt, but the offense couldn’t take advantage of the great field position.

Southside punted the ball to Rehobeth just as the fourth quarter started.

Starting at their own 18, Rehobeth did little with the ball.

On fourth-and-five at the 23, the Rebels coaches did a little gambling of their own.

Punter Kida Stanley took the snap and raced around the right end for the first down.

The Rebels milked some time off the clock with another first down at the 40, but the defense held and forced the punt that set up the final drive.

With the win, the Panthers advance to 9-2 on the season.

They go on the road next week to face a tough UMS-Wright team.

Wright beat Greensboro 30-2 Friday night.