Panthers fly over Wingfield Falcons
Published 5:00 am Monday, September 22, 2003
Brookhaven head coach Tucker Peavey wanted his Panthers toimprove their passing game Friday night against the JacksonWingfield Falcons. They looked impressive as quarterback JimmyJohns passed for 4 touchdowns and 185 yards, directing the Panthersto a 50-7 triumph on King Field.
Johns passed the Panthers (3-1, 1-0) to a 44-0 halftime lead,completing touchdown passes of 40 and 55 yards to John WayneHavard. He also passed 2 yards to Bud Chatman and 15 yards toDominique Smith for first-half scores.
“Our receivers came in prepared,” said Johns who completed 12 of20 passes. “We haven’t been throwing the ball well so we worked alot on passing this week. Our line did a good job blocking.”
While Brookhaven’s offense was doing its job, accounting for 404yards, the Panthers were flexing their muscles on defense againstWingfield. They limited the Falcons to just 87 yards total offense.Most of it came against BHS reserves when Peavey pulled hisstarters midway through the third quarter.
“Our defense played as a team,” said defensive tackle Zach Ray.”Our ends turned it in. Our defense made (Falcons) go three andout.”
Wingfield (1-3, 0-1), receiving its first taste of Region 6-4Acompetition, was unable to stop Brookhaven. The Panthers roared toa 16-0 first-quarter lead. Running back Dominique Smith scored thefirst Panther TD on a 1-yard plunge.
Jeremy Jackson blocked Will Thibodeaux’s PAT kick but that wasthe only first-half negative in a scoring blitz that ended withHavard taking a pass from Johns, cutting back across the middle andnotching a 55-yard reception as the first half ended.
The first quarter carnage featured a 2-yard TD pass from Johnsto Chatman and a 2-point conversion toss from Johns to tight endMichael Thrasher. The Panthers got a safety when the snap sailedover Derrick Roach’s head and out the rear of the end zone.
Smith’s 15-yard catch and Thibodeaux’s PAT put the Panthers up23-0 just 54 seconds into the second quarter. It was 30-zip whenWingfield quarterback Tim Kendrick fumbled near the goal line andtackle Jessie Bowman recovered in the end zone.
Havard caught a 40-yard TD pass from Johns for a 37-0 advantagewith 2:32 left in the first half.
Brookhaven needed only 3 plays to score on its first possessionof the second half. Taurean Jones returned Wingfield’s kickoff 39yards to the 47. Ronnie McNulty raced 36 yards for the TD, makingit 50-zip with 10:26 showing.
“We had not been throwing and catching the ball well the lasttwo weeks,” said Peavey. “Havard did a good job with the ball afterhe caught it.
“Overall, it was what I had hoped the game would be. Our gameplan turned out right.”
The only down beat was the foot injury sustained by defensiveend Julius Brown.
“Wingfield coach Chuck Foley said he was impressed by thePanthers. “Brookhaven has a great ball team. They’re tough. Thedidn’t shoot themselves in the foot like we did.
“Mistakes hurt us a lot,” said Foley. “We had a lack of focus.We are young.”
Foley’s backup quarterback, Tim Kendrick; and flanker ChrisLewis are both freshmen. A 6-yard run by Lewis accounted forWingfield’s lone touchdown.
Brookhaven plays at Jim Hill Friday night, meeting the Tigers onHughes Field. Kickoff is 7 p.m.