Apparently DeQuan Johnson can throw the ball too.

Johnson, Southside’s do-it-all senior, showed off another part of his repertoire on Thursday, tossing a touchdown pass to Ke’Andrae Rutledge on a trick play. Defenses are used to watching Johnson run or catch touchdowns, but Thursday’s touchdown pass was his first of the year.

He also ran for three touchdowns as the Panthers torched Ellwood Christian in a 60-0 win.

The win moved the Panthers to 7-3, their best regular season since 2004.

“My thing with the guys was keep going, we’ve got more to play for. Don’t worry about whose playing us,” said Southside coach Daniel Flowers. “The only person that can stop us is ourselves.”

Johnson and Rutledge — two seniors — hooked up on the night’s most memorable play, a double pass that put the Panthers up 22-0 in the first quarter. G’Neil Johnson threw a pass to DeQuan, who then launched the ball 44 yards to Rutledge for the score.

“We had it in our playbook all season. We just never did it,” Flowers said.

DeQuan’s three touchdown runs were 68, 16 and 52 yards. His third rushing score came with 2:03 left in the first half and put the Panthers ahead 38-0 going into the half.

Chris Edwards scored the only first half touchdown for Southside on a 5-yard run. He also added a 53-yard touchdown reception from G’Neil Johnson on a screen pass in the third quarter.

G’Neil also connected with Keshawn Arrington on a 31-yard touchdown. Cordell Waller, another senior, had a 1-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter. Waller also made three extra points in the game.

The night was all about the Panthers’ 14-player senior class. The seniors might’ve been playing their final home game of their careers Thursday and they were honored before the game.

“This is the best senior class I’ve had since I’ve been here,” Flowers said. “They gave me my best record ever as a head football coach and my first time ever going to the playoffs. Even as a player, I didn’t go to the playoffs.”

The Panthers are in a three-way tie in class 3A, region 3 with Prattville Christian and Central Coosa, but are expected to advance to the postseason once the tiebreaker is worked out. A Selma win Thursday would’ve locked up the No. 3 seed for Southside, but the Saints lost late to Stanhope Elmore.

On the other sideline, Ellwood Christian was looking to build toward next season. The Eagles got little going on offense, outside of some electrifying runs by quarterback A.D. Tate.

“We were playing for next year,” said Ellwood coach Mike Stokes, whose south Kenyon plays for Southside. “We’ve got two weeks off, then we are going to hit the weight room for these guys that are not playing basketball.”

The Panthers will play at Montevallo or Gordo in the playoffs next week.