The Cumberland Gap Panthers have had to deal with more than their share of injuries this season, still they’ll be looking to finish the regular season with a .500 record with a win tonight at Grainger.

Coach Neal Pucciarelli and the Panthers had circled the final district game as one that would be pivotal to the team’s playoff hopes, but Cumberland Gap will move on to the post-season no matter the outcome of tonight’s game.

“I’m really proud of them for making the playoffs, especially with all the adversity we’ve been through,” he said. “We want to get all of the experience we can for our young players and give them something to build off of and take into the playoffs. We also want to keep building up the program for the future.”

In a few areas the future is now. Senior quarterback Ryan Shipley is out for season after having surgery on a broken bone near his ankle and freshman Blake Franklin now pilots the Panthers’ spread offense. Franklin played well last week in a 48-25 win at Cosby. Making his first varsity start he completed 13-of-35 passes for 391 yards and five touchdowns and ran for another score.

Senior receiver Whitt Willis caught eight of those passes for a school record 286 yards and three TDs in his second game back form a shoulder injury.

Sophomore Joseph Jenkins will start at running back as senior Jeremy Jones is limited with a knee injury and will mostly play on defense tonight. Jenkins has come on recent weeks and leads the team with 31 catches on the season for 418 yards and three touchdowns. He has also ran for 79 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.

Cumberland Gap will be without senior receiver Seth Sharpe due to a knee injury that has him questionable for the postseason and junior center Daniel Pace is out with a broken bone in his leg similar to Shipley’s.

Pucciarelli said senior David Cornelius will slide over from guard to center. Junior Cody Webb will join senior Patrick Francisco at the guard positions with junior Adam Southern and sophomores Joseph Deguilian and Daniel Chumley rotating at the tackles.

So the younger players will have to continue to step up for the Panthers (4-5, 3-2) as they visit the Grizzlies (2-7, 2-3).

“Grainger’s got a good team,” Pucciarelli said. “They’ve lost seven games, but they play a lot of young kids, too. And they’ve got a lot of talent.”

A win could help the Panthers as far as playoff seeding. The bracket will be released at www.tssaa.org at 8 a.m. Saturday.

“The rumor I’ve heard is that we’ll probably be playing Elizabethton, but after last year you never know,” Pucciarelli said. “We could end up getting sent back to Alcoa again.”