Southside Panthers pull off victory against Bayside to advance to semifinals

The Southside High School Panthers on Friday night pulled off a hard-fought win 26-24 in the third round of the AHSAA Class 3A football playoffs against Bayside Academy Admirals to advance to the semifinals.

At the Panthers' home, Southside and the Admirals battled all night long, starting with the Panthers defense coming up with an interception in the first quarter to start the game, but the Panthers gave it right back to the Admirals. The Admirals were able to capitalize off the turnover and score on the Panthers to take the 7-0 lead.  

The Panthers responded when Latreyveon Davis found his way in the end zone to make the score 7-6. The Panthers failed to score before the end of first quarter due to an interception by the Admirals.

The Admirals started off the second quarter hot by scoring a touchdown. Derick Smith and Jaibrien Gresham were able to answer back by scoring for the Panthers to tie the game 14-14. The Panthers came close to scoring again before the end second quarter, but ended up throwing an interception instead. The Admirals kicked a field goal end the first half, to take the 17-14 lead.

The Admirals started the third quarter with a quick touchdown and field goal to increase the lead to 24-14. Costly turnovers gave the Admirals a chance to score again, but the Panthers' defense stepped up preventing the Admirals to score again before the quarter ended.

Jyrek Gipson found the end zone to help the Panthers stay in the game, making the score 24-20, still in favor of Bayside. The Panthers 

defense made big plays all night and they came up big in the final seconds when they forced Bayside to turn the ball over, allowing the Panthers to score when Jaibrien Gresham scored to seal the deal for the Panthers as they pulled off the 26-24 victory to advance to the semifinals in the playoffs.

The Panthers will face the Houston Academy Raiders in Dothan next Friday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m.