The Brookhaven football team capitalized on mistakes at McComb Friday night while putting together four first-half scoring drives of its own to jump out to a 28-0 halftime lead en route to a 41-14 victory.
The Panthers (3-1) capped off a six-play drive to open the game with a 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Sevante Quin to wide receiver Kentrevis Tanner to take a 7-0 lead with 9:50 remaining in the first quarter.
Brookhaven created two turnovers in the first quarter it did not capitalize on before extending its lead. Direyun McNair of the Panthers recovered a high snap from Tigers center John Gardner at the McComb 23. Gardner started in place of Ulyses Brown, who was out with an ankle injury.
Emanuel Allen replaced Gardner after a second bad snap, but the exchange between the Tigers center and quarterback was a problem for much of the night.
“We didn’t come out to play tonight,” Tigers head coach Jeffery Gibson said. “We got outplayed, and that’s on me. I guess I’ll do a better job of getting us prepared, but he (Brown) was a big loss. We couldn’t get the ball snapped back there.”
Axavian Jones of Brookhaven intercepted a pass from McComb quarterback Venchenza McCray in Tigers (1-3) territory with more than four minutes to play in the first quarter. However, the interception was called back on a pass interference.
The Panthers hit their stride in the second quarter as Kenneth Dixon, who had 11 rushes for 75 yards, ran in a 16-yard touchdown with 5:40 remaining in the first half to extend the lead to 21-0.
Damarrell Leggett, who had more than 50 yards rushing on the night, capped off a 13-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown run with 0:03 remaining in the first half to extend the Panthers lead to 28-0.
McCray, who finished the night 5 of 17 for 105 yards, did not complete any passes in the first half.
“A lot of dropped balls,” Gibson said. “Receivers were dropping balls. We have to play better than that. There’s no excuses for it. We’ll get better.”
While the Tigers were expected to be at full strength earlier in the week, Gibson said after the game senior wingback Ali Henson was banged up at around 50 percent. Henson had three receptions for 32 yards.
“Brookhaven, they have a good ball club, and they came and outplayed us tonight,” Gibson said. “We just have to go back to the drawing board.”
The Panthers equaled their biggest lead at 41-7 with 1:33 remaining in the game on a Jaquarius Edwards 19-yard touchdown run.
The Tigers cut Brookhaven’s lead to 34-7 on a Vincent Jones 2-yard touchdown run with 4:47 remaining in the third quarter on a score setup by a 53-yard pass from Venchenza McCray to Gerkithis McCray.
McComb had opportunities to make things even closer but was unsuccessful.
Venchenza McCray, who finished with 92 rushing yards, ran for 31 yards on a keeper giving the Tigers first and goal at the Brookhaven 3 with 9:34 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Brookhaven’s Jordan Blackwell recovered a fumble on a bad snap two plays later giving the Panthers the ball at their own 20 with 8:22 to play.
Wide receiver Gerkithis McCray, who had two touchdowns in the loss at Tylertown last week, caught three passes for 101 yards against Brookhaven.
“He came on last week and started playing better,” Gibson said. “He’s getting better and better each week.”
Gary Butler came in at quarterback for the final two drives and threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Vincent Jones with 42 seconds remaining.
McComb’s La'Monte Kelly recovered Tejay Patel’s onside kick following the touchdown, but time ran out on the Tigers.
The Tigers, currently on a three-game losing streak, conclude non-district play at 7 p.m. Friday at Port Gibson.
“I just want to tell the fans thanks for coming out,” Gibson said. “Hang in there. We’re going to be alright.”
McComb has a bye after playing Port Gibson and opens district play at archrival South Pike at 7 p.m. Sept. 30.
