NATCHEZ — With a 2-3 record in MHSAA Region 3-6A, Natchez High School knows it would need some help making the postseason.

But head coach Lance Reed said his team isn’t getting too caught up in the what ifs heading into tonight’s home matchup against Brandon High School.

Reed said Brandon will present several challenges for the Bulldogs.

“They’re a big group,” Reed said. “They run the ball well, and they play very good defense. They have a young, freshman quarterback, and they put different people at that position, but they’re a very competitive team.”

With NHS’ playoff hopes up in the air, Reed said he’s stressing to his players the importance of working on what they can control.

“Right now, I think our focus is Natchez High School and winning our last two games, and then we’ll kind of evaluate and see what happens,” Reed said.

Specifically, Reed said his team was focusing on finding consistency all the way around.

“We’re working on consistency on offense, not turning the ball over and playing good special teams. That will give us a chance,” Reed said.

“I think the one big thing (on offense) is not turning the ball over, obviously, and every person performing at their job. If everyone executes and does what they’re supposed to do, typically everything works out for us.”

And Reed said the team’s offensive troubles can be attributed mostly to that lack of consistency.

“We’ve had spurts, we just haven’t been consistent,” Reed said “We’ve had spurts that were good for a few series, and then everything will go bad. We know we’re not going to be perfect, but if we can put together a couple of good series, I think we can give ourselves a chance.”

There’s also the fact that coming into the season, many of the Bulldogs’ starters were inexperienced, even as juniors and seniors.

“We definitely have some inexperienced guys playing, but they make up for it with effort,” Reed said. “That’s where we’re excelling, and that’s what we want to make sure we continue to get out of them.”

Reed also said there’s a chance some younger players will see playing time these final two games.

“We have some young guys who are fitting themselves into certain positions, and they’re going to have to go,” Reed said. “We don’t have a problem with that at this point in the year, and we’re going to finish strong with what we have.”

Kickoff at NHS is at 7 tonight.