Friday night’s homecoming pregame ceremonies didn’t distract thehost Brookhaven Academy Cougars from their District 4-AA contestwith the Wilkinson County Christian Academy Rams.

Brookhaven Academy mixed its running and passing game to take a28-22 come-from-behind victory over Wilkinson Christian at CougarField before a packed and enthusiastic loud crowd.

Brookhaven improved to 2-1 in the division and 6-4 on theseason. Wilkinson fell to 3-7 and 0-3 following the loss. Coachingthe Rams is Warren Whitaker.

In other division games, Columbia (3-7, 2-2) lost to Oak Forest42-7 Friday night. Division leader Bowling Green (7-1, 3-0) had theweek off to prepare for a visit from Brookhaven this Fridaynight.

On their first possession, Cougar quarterback Jake Sessumsconnected to wide receiver Grant Case for a 45-yard touchdown tocap a 78-yard drive. Brandon Achord kicked the extra point andBrookhaven led 7-0 with 4:22 remaining.

The Rams took their next possession and marched into the secondquarter to score at the 10:15 mark on a one-yard burst by tailbackStephens McVae. Brookhaven stopped the run for two points and heldonto a one-point, 7-6 lead going into halftime.

“In the first half, it looked like we were going to give them atouchdown on penalties,” said Brookhaven Academy head coach DougClanton. During the Rams first possession, the Cougars werepenalized with back-to-back flags for clipping.

Early in the third quarter, WCCA punted on fourth down anddowned the football at the Brookhaven three-yard line. A mishandledpitchout resulted in a safety for the Rams who took an 8-7 leadover the Cougars with 11:43 left.

On Brookhaven’s next possession, WCCA recovered a fumble at the45. The Rams marched 55 yards and scored on a 37-yard burst byMcVea for the six points. The Cougars shut down the Rams on thetwo-point try and WCCA held a 14-7 lead with 8:39 remaining in thethird quarter.

The Cougars answered back to score on a nine-yard quarterbackkeeper from Sessums for the six points with 8:15 left. The PATkicked failed and Brookhaven trailed WCCA 14-13.

Brookhaven held WCCA for four downs and took over at the 49. Onthe first play, Sessums connected to Adam Smith on a 49-yardpass-play for the TD. Sessums hit Dustin King for the two-pointconversion and Brookhaven took a 21-14 lead with 4:55 left.

In the fourth quarter, Brookhaven’s Jeffrey Waycaster recovereda fumble to set the Cougars up at their own 33. It took Sessums twoplays to connect with Smith for the 34-yard score. Achord kickedthe extra point and Brookhaven extended its lead to 28-14 with 5:49left in the game.

WCCA got a break on fourth down and five to go for a first downat their own 45 when Brookhaven was flagged 15-yards for a personalfoul. Three plays later, McVae burst three yards across the goalline and followed up with a two-point conversion run to close thedeficit to 28-22 with less than three minutes left on theclock.

The Cougars got the ball at the 50 and ran the clock out topreserve the win.

“Adam Smith did a good job of catching those passes,” statedClanton. “We did what we had to do to win. It gives us a winningseason.”

WCCA’s McVae, a 5-9, 170-pound junior, was the leading rusherwith 31 carries for 202 yards. Teammate Shannon Day carried 15times for 47 yards.

For Brookhaven, Sessums led the ground game with 12 rushes for68 yards. Ben Davis carried 10 times for 69 yards. Rushing for 39yards on seven carries was King.

In the air, Sessums completed 5 of 6 passes for 171 yards. Smithmade three catches for 127 yards.

Defensively, Davis directed the Cougars with 20 tackles.Freshman Johnathan Watts collected 14 tackles. Making 13 stops wasWaycaster. King finished with 12 tackles followed by Chad Lagronewith 10 stops.

@Bbstandings:STATISTICS WCCA BA

First Downs 16 11 Rushes-Yards 61-329 31-174 PassingYards 0 171 Total Yards 329 345 Passes 0-2-0 5-6-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-12-2 Punts-Yards 1-19 2-40 Penalties 8-65 6-60

Wilkinson Christian 0 6 8 8 – 22

Brookhaven Academy 7 0 14 7 – 28

FIRST QUARTER

BA – Case 45 pass from Sessums (Achord kick)4:22.

*C>SECOND QUARTER

WCCA – McVea 1 run (run failed) 10:15.

THIRD QUARTER

WCCA – safety 11:43. WCCA – McVea 40 run (run failed)8:39. BA – Sessums 9 run (kick failed) 8:15. BA – Smith 46 passfrom Sessums (Sessums to King) 4:85.

FOURTH QUARTER

BA – Smith 34 pass from Sessums (Achord kick) 5:49. WCCA- McVea 3 run (Jenson to Ryan) 2:27.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: WCCA, McVea 31-202, Day 15-42. BA, Sessums12-68, Davis 10-66, King 7-39.

PASSING: WCCA, Jenson 0-2-1. BA, Sessums 5-6-0,171.

RECEIVING: WCCA , NA. BA, Smith 3-127, Case 1-45, Nix1-(-1).