Though the skies are clear for the Highland Home Flying Squadron’s playoff hopes, the Georgiana Panthers are looking to cause a little turbulence at the end of an otherwise smooth season.

But for Georgiana head coach Ezell Powell, defeating a solid team like the Flying Squadron plays second fiddle to overcoming the Panthers’ own demons.

“Every game this year has been an opportunity to show that we’re trying to improve, work hard and understand the game a little bit more — the things that are necessary to be successful,” Powell said. “Going out and being able to compete gives us confidence that what we’re doing is the right thing and that we’re headed in the right direction, and it’s going to lead to a much better season as the years go by.”

Ending on a positive note certainly has its own advantages for the Panthers (4-5) in heading into the offseason, if only to further highlight the fruits of their labor cultivated in conditioning and strength training thus far.

The Panthers have already won four games this season, three more than it won last season.

But before looking ahead to next year, the Panthers face a Highland Home team that has performed consistently well in clutch games all season long.

Even so, Powell knows that the fact that the final showdown of the season is a non-region game won’t factor into Highland Home’s preparation for Friday night, nor will it affect his.

“I expect them to play as hard as they always play,” Powell said. “They’re going to play hard and they’re going to play their style of football. We’re going to have to do a great job of slowing down their running attack, and they’ve got some running backs that do a great job of running the football. We’re just going to have to try to contain them, put the ball in the end zone a few times and see how close we can keep the ball game.”

The final kickoff for the Panthers’ 2013 campaign is set for Friday night at 7 p.m. in Highland Home.