NATCHEZ — Natchez High football coach Lance Reed always knew this year’s senior class would be the one to lead the Bulldogs back into the playoffs after a long drought.

This year they went out and proved him right.

Natchez (6-4) will make its first playoff appearance since 1997 when they travel to take on Petal (10-1) Friday night.

“I said (when they were freshmen) that they were going to be the group that would take us to the playoffs and they did it,” Reed said. “They did a good job of going through the program and doing what we asked them to do.”

Senior tight end Nick Brooks said the class knew from the time they were eighth graders they would take Natchez back to the playoffs.

“We started out then, and told ourselves that before we graduated, we were going to go to the playoffs,” Brooks said. “We kept that bond as a class throughout high school, even during the off season. We kept on and now we’re in the playoffs because we stuck together and made it our main goal.”

Friday night not only will be a special night for the Bulldog seniors, but also for Reed, who graduated from Natchez High in 1991.

“It’s truly a blessing to have the opportunity to work at my alma mater,” Reed said. “It’s a dream come true. To have the opportunity to work with these guys and be at the school I graduated from makes (Friday) special for me.”

And while Reed says it’s a great accomplishment for Natchez High to be back in the playoffs after an 11-year absence, it’s just the start of something big.

“One of the things we’re trying to get settled in the culture of the program is making the playoffs is something that should be normal,” Reed said. “We’re trying to make it a routine. It’s a huge accomplishment, but we’re not settling for just making the playoffs.”

And Brooks said starting that routine is something this year’s senior class is proud of.

“We were talking about it (Wednesday),” Brooks said. We want to be considered as the trendsetters who started getting Natchez back into the playoffs and making us a dominant team.”

Natchez High made the playoffs as the No. 4 seed from Region 3-5A, which means they face Region 4-5A champion Petal.

But senior wide receiver Ernest Jones made it clear that the Bulldogs aren’t going to just lie down for the Panthers. They expect to win.

“(Petal) is a pretty good team, but I think we can beat them,” Jones said. “It takes the whole team to win. I believe we can pull through.”