Players of the Pine Belt: Petal QB Deljay Bailey

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) - In his second year at the head of Petal, Allen Glenn will lean on Biloxi transfer Deljay Bailey to lead the Panther offense.

“Excited to get to see him when the lights turn on to kind of see how things go,” Glenn said. “I think he has a demeanor about himself that he wants to excel and be successful on every single snap.”

Head Coach Allen Glenn feels confident handing the keys to the offense over to quarterback transfer Deljay Bailey in part due to his determination.

“If you love the game, you’re going to put your everything into it,” Petal senior Deljay Bailey said. “You’re going to put your all into it.

But Bailey’s presence under center is defined by much more than his work ethic.

“I see myself as a pocket passer but don’t get me wrong anytime I need to get some yards, fall forward, I can do that,” Bailey said.

“The ball comes out of his hands the right way,” Glenn said. “He’s very cerebral. [He] reads the defense fairly well so really excited about Deljay.”

Only arriving to Petal in January, there was an adjustment period for the three-star recruit.

“The day he walked in our weight room I think it was a little bit of a culture shock for him, you know the way we run things in our weight room. I think he would be the first to tell you that,” the Head Coach said.

“As soon as I got here I realized they work very hard and it’s always good to be included in something like that,” Bailey said.

“Once he kind of got involved and kind of understood what it was about at Petal, he kind of embraced it,” Glenn said. “He and the guys have a great rapport.”

After a hot start last season, the Panthers cooled down in region play finishing the season 4-7.

“We had some good things happen for us early in the year then we kind of hit a stretch in division where we kind of took some lumps,” Glenn said. “It’s a war every Friday night in our league, SEC west of high school football in Mississippi.”

But Bailey looks at playing in region 3-6A as an opportunity rather than a challenge.

“I’m from the coast so they always say football is a lot more different, a lot more physical up here so that’s something I’m looking forward to as well that I can compete with some of the best,” Bailey said.

The Panthers open the season Aug 27. at Hattiesburg.

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