Brookhaven will host River Oaks, La. for the AA South State championship in a rematch of the south title game from a year ago. Brookhaven won that meeting 17-7 en route to the AA State Championship.
(Above) Brookhaven junior wide-out Christian "Bubba" Keene (#5) goes vertical to avoid a Cenla defender
Rogers torched the Lion secondary in limited action in the game, completing 15 of his 24 pass attempts for 386 yards and four touchdowns on the night. He added another score on the ground. Rogers performance also moved him into second place in the record books for the state of Mississippi. Rogers has accounted for 129 touchdowns during his career, second only to St. Stanislaus quarterback Dylan Favre. Rogers passed former Shannon high school and Ole Miss standout quarterback Romaro Miller, who holds third place with 127 scores.
Early on it looked as though Cenla had everything going its way as the Lions way. After being forced into a punting situation on its first drive, Cenla capitalized on a Brookhaven substitution penalty that gave the Lions a first down when quarterback Graham Kelly connected with wide out Raegan Lane from 45 yards out. The two point conversion attempt failed, giving the visitors a 6-0 lead with 8:47 left in the first quarter.
Brookhaven looked to be in more trouble as the Lions executed a successful onside kick attempt, giving them the ball at the Brookhaven 44 yard line. Brookhaven’s defense stood tall, forcing a punt from the Lions, but the punt took a Cenla roll and was downed inside the Brookhaven one yard line. Pinned against their own end zone with no room for error, Brookhaven responded with an eight play, 99 yard drive that ended with Rogers connecting with Sidney Chaffin from 31 yards out. Tyler Trout added the extra point for a 7-6 Brookhaven lead with 2:30 remaining in the first quarter.
Brookhaven’s defense again forced a punt from Cenla on the ensuing drive, and Brookhaven junior return man Bubba Keene took the punt at the Brookhaven 41 yard, leaped over defenders and raced to the Cenla 19 yard line. On the next play, Rogers connected with Jennings Mills for the 19 yard score. Trout added the extra point for a 14-6 lead at the 10 second mark of the first.
Rogers and company dominated the second quarter of play as the Cougar offense was able to put three more scores on the board before the break. Rogers connected with Chaffin from 29 yards out at the 8:59 mark of the second. Rogers found the end zone on his own with 5:24 remaining and then connected with Mills from 31 yards out at the 2:47 mark of the half, pushing the Brookhaven lead to 36-6 at the break.
Cenla took the opening possession of the second half and orchestrated a 10 play, 70 yard drive that ate of six minutes of the game clock before Andy Brossett scored on a one yard run with 6:05 remaining in the third. The extra point attempt failed, closing the Brookhaven lead to 36-12.
Brookhaven was able to answer at the 1:49 mark of the third as sophomore Gage Posey took a Cenla punt and raced 45 yards for the score. Trout added the extra point for a 43-12 Brookhaven lead.
Cenla was able to add a six yard touchdown pass from Kelly to David Marler with 5:10 left in the game, cutting the Brookhaven lead to 43-18. 
(Above) Jennings Mills of Brookhaven (#10) wraps up on defense
The Cougars got their final score of the night as Posey connected with Jeff Rushing on a 14 yard pass. Trout added the extra point, ending the scoring at 50-18.
“I think we played ok offensively.” said Brookhaven head coach Herbert Davis. “We didn’t run the ball well, but they (Cenla) were putting 8 or 9 guys in the box to stop our running game so we went to our passing game and Chandler had a big night for us. We’re a balanced team, even with our reputation of throwing the ball so much, but we have some guys that can get the job done on the ground too.”
“We didn’t do a very good job defensively.” added Davis. “We let them break a lot of tackles and gave up a few big plays. If we make those mistakes next week, we’re going to be in trouble.”
Mills was the leading receiver for Brookhaven, catching 6 passes for 140 yards with two scores. Keene caught 3 passes for 99 yards and Chaffin added two receptions for 60 yards and two touchdowns. Landon Nettles picked up 65 yards on 7 carries to lead the Cougars rushing attack.
Graham Kelly led Cenla, completing 16 of his 26 pass attempts for 215 yards with two scores. Raegan Lane caught 5 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown, and David Marler caught 3 passes for 50 yards with another touchdown.
On defense, Alan Michael Allred led Brookhaven with 16 tackles and a fumble recovery. Jeff Rushing followed with 11 tackles and C.J. Duckworth added 10 stops in support.
Brookhaven hosts River Oaks, La. Friday night for the AA South State championship game. River Oaks advanced with a 21-13 win over Centreville Academy. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Photos Courtesy of Sherylyn Evans
