With five games left on their schedule, the Georgiana Panthers find themselves in the middle of the pack in Region 1.

Right now, Leroy is the leader and they are followed by Washington County.

Currently, the Panthers are 1-2 in the region, but have a chance Friday night to even up their record against the Flomaton Hurricanes.

Friday night's game will also be the second home game of the season for the Panthers.

After knocking off Bayside Academy and picking up their first region win of the season in the second week of the season, the Georgiana High School Panthers are still searching for their second regional win.

The Panthers have a 2-3 record coming into to Friday night's match-up with the Flomaton Hurricanes.

"The kids are real excited," said Keith York, coach of the Panthers. "It's only our second home game of the season and we've been playing six weeks. We're really excited about being at home. It is a region game we certainly will not take lightly. They haven't had the best of seasons in Flomaton this year. But, we haven't beaten them in about four years so that's a little incentive."

The four-year losing streak is incentive. But the fact that it's a region game increases the incentive to win.

Last week, the Panthers could only post one touchdown in their 15-7 loss to regional leader Leroy High School.

Runningback Zane McMeans scored the sole touchdown for the Panthers in their loss.

"I'ts like somebody called into the radio station and said it's like two heavyweights going blow-for-blow," York said. "I'm real proud of our kids and the effort we had Friday night. We needed to bring our 'A' game to Leroy, they ranked No. 6 in 2A and are leading the region. We did take our 'A' game. We did everything perfectly. We just ran out of time."

In order for the Panthers to be playing at the end of this month, they must win Friday night.

"We are one region win against two losses," York said. "This is a must-win for us if we want to keep our playoff hopes alive."

The Panthers need a win Friday night to keep their playoff hopes alive.

In the next three weeks, they travel to Red Level and to Excel before stepping out of regional play for a game against St. Jude.

Georgiana will their 2004 regular season with a home game against regional co-leader Washington County.

This game was originally set for the week of Sept. 17, but due to Hurricane Ivan it was rescheduled to the first Friday in November.

The first round of the AHSAA playoffs are slated to start the following week. Kickoff for the Georgiana game is set for 7 p.m., and will be played in Georgiana.