For Southern Sports & Travel, By Brett Rutland
Brookhaven Academy opened the district 4-AA campaign Friday night against the Amite School Center Rebels, sporting the state’s longest winning streak at 18 games. And thanks to a dominating effort, the Cougars made sure that not only they continued the win streak, but more importantly opened the district race with a convincing win.
Brookhaven whipped the Rebels 41-8 to improve to 4-0 on the season and 1-0 in district play. Amite lost its third straight game and fell to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in district play.
The Cougars took the opening drive and marched 71 yards in 5 plays before senior quarterback Chandler Rogers connected with fellow senior Sidney Chaffin on a 22 yard scoring strike. Cody Henley added the extra point for a 7-0 Brookhaven lead with 9:48 left in the opening quarter.
After forcing a Rebel punt, the Cougars responded with a 4 play, 59 yard drive that was capped off with Jennings Mills scoring on a 36 yard scamper, giving the visitors a 14-0 lead with 5:49 remaining in the opening period after Henley added the extra point.
Points proved to be easy to come by for the Cougars as they added two more scores in the first half. Mills added a 13 yard run at the 11:35 mark of the second quarter after the Cougars recovered a Rebel fumble. Henley added the extra point for a 21-0 Brookhaven lead. Then at the 8:49 mark, Rogers again connected with Chaffin, this time from 49 yards, pushing the Cougar lead to 27-0 at the break after the extra point failed. The offense picked up in the third quarter right where it left off in the first half as Mills scored on an 11 yard run with 7:29 left in the third. Henley added the extra point for a 34-0 Cougar lead. The final score of the night for Brookhaven came at the 2:35 mark of the third quarter as backup quarterback Gage Posey connected with Chaffin on a 39 yard bomb to push the Cougar lead to 41-0.
Amite’s only score came at the 5:13 mark of the fourth quarter as Bull Toler scored on a 15 yard run. Toler added the two point conversion, closing the scoring at 41-8.
Brookhaven’s defense delivered its most dominating performance up to this point of the season, limiting the Rebels to only 13 offensive plays in the first half for -18 yards. That trend continued into the fourth quarter when at one point, the Rebels totaled -59 total yards before finally putting together successful offensive drives.
“We dropped a lot of passes tonight that should’ve been touchdowns.” said Brookhaven coach Herbert Davis. “We haven’t been able to get our starters a great amount of playing time because of the way the first four games have gone and that concerns us a bit. We have to do a better job of executing offensively, not just at the skill positions but blocking as well. And our defense has to do a better job of getting in their gaps and sticking with their assignments. We’re getting in to a tough stretch of the season and we have got to be able to execute a lot better on both sides of the ball and put together a complete game.”
“Central Hinds comes in Friday and we won’t be able to get away with the mistakes we’ve been making against a good team like them.” added Davis. “They’re a big, physical team that’s going to run right at you so our defense has to be ready. We’ve got to do a better job of catching passes and holding blocks on offense too.”
Rogers led the Brookhaven offense, completing 9 of his 12 pass attempts for 167 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, he picked up 23 yards on 3 carries. Mills was the leading rusher with 6 carries for 90 yards and three scores. Chaffin led all receivers with 4 receptions for 121 yards and three scores. Gage Posey completed four of his ten pass attempts for 83 yards and a touchdown and Eli Gatlin picked up 65 yards on 7 carries in support.
Bull Toler led Amite with 8 carries for 68 yards and a touchdown.
On defense, Bailey Hodge led Brookhaven with seven tackles. Cody Henley and Alan Michael Allred followed with 6 stops a piece. Allred and Joseph Grice each recovered a fumble.
Brookhaven welcomes Central Hinds into R.M. “Red” Stuard Field Friday night for a key district 4-AA showdown. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Photos Courtesy of Sherylyn Evans
