NATCHEZ — Before each season the past few years, the Natchez High Bulldogs have set a goal of making the playoffs, only to come up a little short.

This year, they set their sights a little higher, and the higher expectations have led to greater results for the Bulldogs, as Natchez not only made the playoffs for the first time since 1997, but upset Petal 25-21 in the first round last Friday.

“Last spring we set our goal of winning a state championship,” Natchez High coach Lance Reed said. “In the past we’ve set goals to make the playoffs and we’ve fallen short by a game. We went into this year with higher goals and expectations and we’re still sticking to that.”

Friday’s win was something the program has been working toward for the past four years, Reed said.

“It was a big win for us,” Reed said. “That’s the thing we’ve been working toward. For the program as a whole, it was huge.”

And it wasn’t just the win that was big for Natchez, it was the way the Bulldogs won — with the running game.

Natchez, which has lived or died by the pass in the past, rolled up 320 rushing yards in the victory, including 159 from quarterback Javon Washington, who ran for the winning touchdown with a minute left.

“That was what (Petal) gave us,” Reed said. “The run was there and we took advantage of it. If we needed to throw the ball, we would have done that, but they took that away and gave us the running game.”

Reed said it was important for his team to win a game running the ball, seeing how they have struggled with that part of the offense in the past.

“The question I’ve been asked is if we’re a running team or a passing team, and the answer is now, we’ll take what’s there,” Reed said. “(Friday’s) game we really took advantage of that.”

Natchez wasn’t the only team to pick up a big win Friday night.

The Franklin County Bulldogs also pulled off a big victory, knocking off Region 6-3A champion Hazlehurst 35-20.

“It was a good win for us,” Franklin County coach Trent Hammond said. “Anytime you win a second round playoff game, it’s a good win. Hazlehurst is a good team, and our kids played extremely hard.”

Hammond had said before the game that they key to stopping Hazlehurst’s wing T offense was to be physical and he feels like they did that.

“We were able to play really physical and overcome a wet, sloppy field,” Hammond said. “We did what we wanted to do.”

Franklin County players Alan and Jordan Hunt and Bobby O’Quinn were able to play through injuries, which helped inspire the rest of the team, Hammond said.

“That’s playoff football,” Hammond said. “It’s all on the line, win or go home. The kids know the importance of it. They all play hard.”

The Bulldogs will travel to take on Region 8-3A champion Columbia this Friday.

Two other area teams are in action on Friday.

Centreville will host Oak Forest in the MPSA Class AA South State championship game while the Block Bears will take on No. 25 seed Cedar Creek in the second round of the LSHAA playoffs.