NATCHEZ — It’s rare that a freshman quarterback takes the reigns at the football program of a 5A school.

Even rarer it is when that quarterback leads his team to the playoffs, especially when that team hasn’t made the playoffs in 10 years.

But that’s what Natchez High quarterback Javon Washington has a chance to do, if the Bulldogs can win tonight.

Natchez (5-4, 3-2 Region 3-5A) will clinch their first playoff berth since 1997 with a win over Wingfield (4-5, 2-3). Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Natchez.

“That would be quite an accomplishment,” Natchez coach Lance Reed said. “Our goal has always been to go to the playoffs and to make improvements from the previous year.”

Washington has steadily improved as a quarterback each week. His best game of the season was in last week’s 42-41 win over Terry.

Washington completed 13-of-22 passes for 209 yards and five touchdowns, including an 11-yard strike to Willie Newman for the winning points with 27 seconds left.

But going into the season, the Bulldogs never expected that a freshman quarterback would be the one to possibly lead them to the promised land.

Natchez went into the season expecting junior Rico Richardson to be quarterback.

However, with Washington’s move to the position, it has allowed Reed to move Richardson to wide receiver, a role he has flourished in.

“Going into the season, we were comfortable with Rico as our quarterback,” Reed said. “But with Javon stepping up, it has allowed us to utilize Rico at wide receiver, which has also greatly helped the team.”

That was no problem with Richardson, who enjoyed wide receiver more anyway.

“Wide receiver is the position I would be playing in college anyway,” Richardson said. “So I’m perfectly OK with (Javon) playing quarterback.”

“There are a lot of people who want attention but Rico has always been a team player,” Reed said. “Him and Javon clicked from day one.”

Richardson’s experience at the position has also allowed him to help Washington.

“He’ll get mad if he messes up sometimes and I’ll have to tell him to keep his head in the game and stay focused,” Richardson said.

While he admits that he would get nervous before his first starts, the experience he has gained this season has taken care of the nerves.

“The first two games I was kind of nervous,” Washington said. “After that, it was cool. I’ve gotten a lot of encouragement from the team and they have a lot of confidence in me.”

Washington said that leading his team to the playoffs would be extra special in his freshman season.

“It would mean a lot to me because it’s not often a freshman quarterback starts on the 5A level,” Washington said. “I want people to look at me as more than just a freshman.”