Top ranked Cougars roll
For Southern Sports & Travel, By Brett Rutland
Brookhaven Academy welcomed the Copiah Colonels to R.M. “Red” Stuard Field Friday night for what has come to be known as the “Goat Bowl” between the two rivals. After a close, hard fought first half, and an offensively explosive third quarter, Brookhaven pulled away to post a 53-26 victory over the visiting Colonels from Gallman. Brookhaven improved to 2-0 on the young season while Copiah Academy, coached by Scotty Cline, dropped to 1-1.
Brookhaven was able to register the first points of the game. After holding Copiah to a three and out on its first drive, the Cougars responded with a 7 play, 50 yard drive that culminated with Jennings Mills scoring on a 4 yard run with 6:22 left in the opening quarter. Mills ran in the two point conversion, giving the Cougars an 8-0 lead.
Copiah responded with a 6 play, 57 yard drive before Kelton Smith scored on a 4 yard run with 4:01 left in the quarter. Copiahs two point conversion pass attempt was picked off in the end zone by Mills, closing the Brookhaven lead to 8-6.
The only other score for the first half came as Brookhaven quarterback Chandler Rogers capped a 4 play, 56 yard drive with a 7 yard run with 2:55 left in the first. Tyler Trout added the extra point, his first of a perfect 6 for 6 on the night, giving Brookhaven a 15-6 lead they carried into halftime.
Brookhaven opened the scoring of the second half on the opening kickoff as Bubba Keene took the kickoff from Colonels kicker Ty Higganbotham at the 18 yard line and broke several tackles before racing 82 yards for the score. Trout added the extra point for a 22-6 Cougar lead with 11:47 left in the third.
Copiah responded on the ensuing drive, going 52 yards in two plays, the majority coming on a 40 yard from Peyton Whitehead with 11:10 remaining. The two point conversion attempt failed, cutting the Brookhaven lead to 22-12.
It took just one offensive play for Brookhaven to respond, as Rogers connected with Keene, who again shed tacklers and raced 61 yards for the score. Trout added the extra point for a 29-12 Brookhaven lead with 10:51 left in the quarter.
Kelton Smith led the ensuing Copiah drive that went 67 yards in 5 plays before Smith scored on a 46 yard run. Higganbotham added the extra point, cutting the Brookhaven lead to 29-19 at the 8:11 mark of the third.
The Cougars were able to respond with a three minute drive that went 62 yards in 6 plays before Rogers connected with Keene from one yard out. Trouts extra point pushed the Brookhaven lead to 36-19 with 5:30.
It took just three plays for the Colonels to respond, going 68 yards in three plays, capped with a Devin Harper 68 yard pass to Smith with 4:06 remaining in the quarter. Higganbotham added the extra point for a 36-26 Brookhaven lead. But that was the last points the Colonels were able to register.
Rogers added a 5 yard run with 2:01 left in the third capping a 5 play, 60 drive, pushing the Cougar lead to 43-26 after Trout added the extra point.
Mills added a 27 yard scamper with 11:43 left in the game that pushed the lead to 50-26 after the Trout extra point, and Trout added a 28 yard field goal with 5:21 left to close out the scoring.
“Brookhaven is a very good, very skilled offensive team.” said Copiah head coach Scotty Cline. “We knew they were a great team coming in and we were concerned about our young guys and how they would match up. But I thought we did a pretty good job of staying with them until late in the game when we ran out of gas. We had a chance to score inside the five right at the end of the first half but couldn’t punch it in. That would have big for us and made it a completely different game in the second half.”
“It’s just so tough to match up with them.” added Cline. “They have so many good players and such a good offense that it’s tough to stay on the field with them. They have a great team.”
Rogers led the Brookhaven offense, completing 16 of his 20 pass attempts for 260 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, he picked up 82 yards on 8 carries with two more scores. Jennings Mills was able to pick up 51 yards on 6 carries with two scores. Keene led all receivers with 7 receptions for 96 yards and two scores. He finished with 178 all-purpose yards and three scores.
Kelton Smith led Copiah with 98 yards and two scores on 17 carries. Devin Harper followed with 87 yards on 15 carries. Peyton Whitehead carried 4 times for 33 yards and a touchdown.
“I thought we had a good offensive effort tonight, but we had too many penalties.” said Brookhaven coach Herbert Davis. “We threw the ball really well, especially with Chandler completing 80 percent of his passes. They played us man to man in the secondary and if a team does that we’re going to try to get the ball to Bubba (Keene) and let him make a play. Defensively we played ok. We made some adjustments, but we have some areas that we have to improve on a lot. I’m frustrated with our defense but at the same time we’ve got some bright spots there and I think we’ll get a lot better in those spots.”
On defense, Mark Rushing led Brookhaven with 18 tackles. Alan Michael Allred followed with 10 stops. Colby Culbertson and C.J. Duckworth each followed with 9 stops.
Brookhaven welcomes Riverfield, La to R.M “Red” Stuard Field Friday night in a non-district match up. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
For Southern Sports & Travel, By Brett Rutland
Brookhaven Academy welcomed the Copiah Colonels to R.M. “Red” Stuard Field Friday night for what has come to be known as the “Goat Bowl” between the two rivals. After a close, hard fought first half, and an offensively explosive third quarter, Brookhaven pulled away to post a 53-26 victory over the visiting Colonels from Gallman. Brookhaven improved to 2-0 on the young season while Copiah Academy, coached by Scotty Cline, dropped to 1-1.
Brookhaven was able to register the first points of the game. After holding Copiah to a three and out on its first drive, the Cougars responded with a 7 play, 50 yard drive that culminated with Jennings Mills scoring on a 4 yard run with 6:22 left in the opening quarter. Mills ran in the two point conversion, giving the Cougars an 8-0 lead.
Copiah responded with a 6 play, 57 yard drive before Kelton Smith scored on a 4 yard run with 4:01 left in the quarter. Copiahs two point conversion pass attempt was picked off in the end zone by Mills, closing the Brookhaven lead to 8-6.
The only other score for the first half came as Brookhaven quarterback Chandler Rogers capped a 4 play, 56 yard drive with a 7 yard run with 2:55 left in the first. Tyler Trout added the extra point, his first of a perfect 6 for 6 on the night, giving Brookhaven a 15-6 lead they carried into halftime.
Brookhaven opened the scoring of the second half on the opening kickoff as Bubba Keene took the kickoff from Colonels kicker Ty Higganbotham at the 18 yard line and broke several tackles before racing 82 yards for the score. Trout added the extra point for a 22-6 Cougar lead with 11:47 left in the third.
Copiah responded on the ensuing drive, going 52 yards in two plays, the majority coming on a 40 yard from Peyton Whitehead with 11:10 remaining. The two point conversion attempt failed, cutting the Brookhaven lead to 22-12.
It took just one offensive play for Brookhaven to respond, as Rogers connected with Keene, who again shed tacklers and raced 61 yards for the score. Trout added the extra point for a 29-12 Brookhaven lead with 10:51 left in the quarter.
Kelton Smith led the ensuing Copiah drive that went 67 yards in 5 plays before Smith scored on a 46 yard run. Higganbotham added the extra point, cutting the Brookhaven lead to 29-19 at the 8:11 mark of the third.
The Cougars were able to respond with a three minute drive that went 62 yards in 6 plays before Rogers connected with Keene from one yard out. Trouts extra point pushed the Brookhaven lead to 36-19 with 5:30.
It took just three plays for the Colonels to respond, going 68 yards in three plays, capped with a Devin Harper 68 yard pass to Smith with 4:06 remaining in the quarter. Higganbotham added the extra point for a 36-26 Brookhaven lead. But that was the last points the Colonels were able to register.
Rogers added a 5 yard run with 2:01 left in the third capping a 5 play, 60 drive, pushing the Cougar lead to 43-26 after Trout added the extra point.
Mills added a 27 yard scamper with 11:43 left in the game that pushed the lead to 50-26 after the Trout extra point, and Trout added a 28 yard field goal with 5:21 left to close out the scoring.
“Brookhaven is a very good, very skilled offensive team.” said Copiah head coach Scotty Cline. “We knew they were a great team coming in and we were concerned about our young guys and how they would match up. But I thought we did a pretty good job of staying with them until late in the game when we ran out of gas. We had a chance to score inside the five right at the end of the first half but couldn’t punch it in. That would have big for us and made it a completely different game in the second half.”
“It’s just so tough to match up with them.” added Cline. “They have so many good players and such a good offense that it’s tough to stay on the field with them. They have a great team.”
Rogers led the Brookhaven offense, completing 16 of his 20 pass attempts for 260 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, he picked up 82 yards on 8 carries with two more scores. Jennings Mills was able to pick up 51 yards on 6 carries with two scores. Keene led all receivers with 7 receptions for 96 yards and two scores. He finished with 178 all-purpose yards and three scores.
Kelton Smith led Copiah with 98 yards and two scores on 17 carries. Devin Harper followed with 87 yards on 15 carries. Peyton Whitehead carried 4 times for 33 yards and a touchdown.
“I thought we had a good offensive effort tonight, but we had too many penalties.” said Brookhaven coach Herbert Davis. “We threw the ball really well, especially with Chandler completing 80 percent of his passes. They played us man to man in the secondary and if a team does that we’re going to try to get the ball to Bubba (Keene) and let him make a play. Defensively we played ok. We made some adjustments, but we have some areas that we have to improve on a lot. I’m frustrated with our defense but at the same time we’ve got some bright spots there and I think we’ll get a lot better in those spots.”
On defense, Mark Rushing led Brookhaven with 18 tackles. Alan Michael Allred followed with 10 stops. Colby Culbertson and C.J. Duckworth each followed with 9 stops.
Brookhaven welcomes Riverfield, La to R.M “Red” Stuard Field Friday night in a non-district match up. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
