Brookhaven defeats Prentiss Christian
Submitted to Southern Sports & Travel
Coming out of the Labor Day weekend Brookhaven
Academy Coach Tripp McCarty replied after being asked about the mindset of his
team going into the matchup with the Prentiss Christian Saints, a newcomer to
their district. “We still believe that
we have a championship team but we’ve got to eliminate mistakes on both sides
of the ball.” McCarty continued, “We
need to get off to a great start in our conference and put together some
explosive plays while eliminating the negative ones.”
It looked as though the fireworks we going to
come early and often as the Cougars marched quickly down field to pay dirt in
less than 3 minutes behind the hot hand of junior quarterback Heath Hickman,
who accounted for four touchdowns on the evening for BA.
The Cougars took the opening kickoff from their
own 47 yard line and quickly pushed deep into Saints territory. A one yard touchdown run by Hickman gave the
Cougars the early 6 – 0 lead at the 9:01 mark of the first quarter.
After the Cougars and Saints swapped ball possession,
an Ethan Harris blocked punt had the Cougars knocking on the door again at the
PC 34 yard line. Standing firm on a 4th
and 1yard to go, the Saints turned back the Cougar’s dive play up the middle to
take over on offense at their own 25 yard line and run out the first quarter.
Neither team could muster up much offense as
the minutes ticked down in the 2nd quarter with the Cougars holding
a narrow 6 – 0 lead. A solid defensive
stand by the Cougars forced a Saints punt that sailed off the side of the
Prentiss Christian kicker’s foot and gave BA their best field position of the 2nd
quarter at the Saints 37 yard line with only :33 to play in the half. An eight yard gain and then a holding penalty
put BA back on the PC 39 yard line with just :03 left in the half. That’s when Hickman hit senior wide-out Ethan
Harris streaking down the right sideline shaking off two would be tacklers,
Harris waltzed into the end zone as time expired in the half. Connor Dorman would add the two point
conversion run and give the Cougars a 14 – 0 lead headed to the locker rooms.
Prentiss Christian was hoping to get right back
into the ballgame as they took first possession of the second half. But Cougar cornerback Bailey Warren would
have none of that sliding in front of a Saints receiver to pick off their first
pass attempt of the night and return the ball down to the PC 32 yard line. A crucial Hickman to Jacob Thurman pass play
put the Cougars close again and Caleb Brown finished the job with a 12 yard
catch and run from Hickman. Parker
Myrick added the PAT to give the Cougars a comfortable 21 – 0 lead with 9:49 to
play in the third.
Capitalizing on another Saint’s miscue, senior
free-safety Steven Williams would pounce on a PC fumble near the midfield stipe
and then finish the Cougars possession with a 25 yard over the shoulder catch
from Hickman in the east end zone to cap off the scoring for the Cougars and
give BA a 28 – 0 lead after the Myrick PAT as minutes ticked down in the third.
Prentiss would finally find the end zone late
in the fourth quarter on a Tanner Hawthorne to Mason Berry pass play for 17
yards. The PAT kick failed and this
would close the book on scoring for the night giving the Cougars a 28 – 6
district win over the Saints.
Heath Hickman lead the Cougar offensive attack
going 12 for 17 passing for 174 yards and three touchdowns. Hickman also rushed for one score on the
night. Connor Dorman directed the ground
attack with 69 yards on 13 attempts.
Steven Williams led the BA receivers with three catches for 53 yards and
a score. Caleb Brown also had three
catches for 28 yards and a touchdown and Ethan Harris had 1 grab for 39 yards
and the first half-ending touchdown to his credit.
Jason Hinton and Tyler Shivers had 52 and 31
yards respectively on the ground for the Saints and quarterback Tanner
Hawthorne was 6 for 12 for 53 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively for the Cougars, Bailey Warren
collected 8 tackles and grabbed a 3rd quarter interception, Ethan Harris
added had 6 ½ stops and a blocked punt, Brock Ezell and Collin Hall each had 5
tackles adding to the solid defensive effort for BA. Defensive lineman Tramel Shedd had a fumble
recovery and defensive back Ross Foreman made a leaping interception to squelch
a Saint drive late in the fourth quarter.
After the game Coach Tripp McCarty said, “It’s
good to get the win, especially a district game but we still have to clean up
some things to get ready for a good Bowling Green team. McCarty went on to say, “These young men
always give great effort, we just have to continue to concentrate on our
execution and get better in that aspect of the game.”
The Cougars are on the road again next week
traveling to Franklinton, LA to take on the Bowling Green Buccaneers. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
