BROOKHAVEN — It only took the Parklane Academy Pioneers the first half to score 41 points en route to a dominating 44-7 victory on the road against Brookhaven Academy Friday night.
Although it was the Cougars’ (0-7) homecoming, the Pioneers (4-2) dominated every aspect of the game.
Parklane head coach Brian Stutzman saw excitement and energy from the players from start to finish.
“I thought we came out excited and just had a good time playing football,” he said. “The kids were flying around and they played hard.”
The Pioneer running game led the offense with 290 yards. Junior running backs Jay Smith and Trent Coleman combined for 10 carries, 193 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Junior quarterback Brandt Watson (6 feet, 1 inch, 190 pounds) opened up the offense more throwing the ball.
“Brandt has really been working hard,” Stutzman said. “He threw the ball well tonight and the line protected. He made some good decisions and I was just really pleased with the way he led the team tonight.”
Watson was 6 for 8 for 76 yards and three touchdown passes in only one half of play.
The Brookhaven Academy offense could only muster 73 yards on the ground because of the Pioneers defensive line.
“Our starting defensive line played really good tonight,” Stutzman said. “They were in the backfield the whole first quarter and didn’t let Brookhaven get anything started offensively.”
Brookhaven Academy tried to trick Parklane in the opening kickoff of the game with an onside kick, but Parklane recovered giving them good field position to start out the game. Watson completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Coleman (5-8, 160) giving Parklane an early 6-0 lead, as the 2-point conversion failed.
The Cougars looked to capitalize on the next drive but failed to do so on a three and out. Brookhaven then shanked the punt giving the Pioneers good field position for the second straight drive. It only took Parklane two plays to score as Smith trucked over two defenders for a 10-yard rushing touchdown making the score 13-0.
Brookhaven looked to have something going on its second drive of the game after it executed a fake punt by Madison Smith for 14 yards and a first down. That did not faze the Pioneer defense as it forced the Cougars to punt the ball for the third straight time in the first quarter.
The Pioneers looked to be rolling again for their third possession, but a fumble at the 10-yard line stalled the drive for Parklane and turned the ball over.
Coleman broke two tackles on a 54-yard rushing score to make the score 20-0 to end the first quarter.
The Parklane offense continued to click in the second quarter as Watson found wide receiver Cam Johnson (6-1, 166) on a 3-yard fade to make the score 27-0.
Senior linebacker Dav Bates, (6-0, 190) defensive back Cam Johnson and junior defensive back Logan Larrimore (5-9, 165) intercepted Brookhaven the next three drives. A Jay Smith 64-yard run set up a 7-yard touchdown pass from Watson to junior fullback Lawson Myrick (5-10 175). Larrimore returned his interception to the Cougar 14-yard line and set up a 5-yard touchdown run by junior fullback Kyrin Bickham (6-0, 245) to make the score 41-0 heading into the locker room.
Brookhaven Academy opened up the second half with their first and last scoring drive of the game which ended on a Madison Smith 2-yard touchdown run making the score 41-7.
The Pioneers concluded the scoring with a 24-yard field goal by kicker Braden Halstead (6-0, 140) to extend their lead to 44-7, which was the final score.
The Pioneers will return to action next week at home against Jackson Prep at 7 p.m. Friday Stutzman knew the importance of winning the game against Brookhaven Academy heading into a big rivalry game.
“It was good to get momentum going forward,” he said. “We have Prep coming to us, it’s a big game for us, and if the kids come out and play hard hopefully we can make something happen next week, too.”
