Brookhaven safety R.J. Jenkins dropped to his knees, raised botharms above his head, looked heavenward and pointed his indexfingers towards the sky. “You gotta believe!.”

An overflow crowd, estimated at 8,000-plus witnessed the epicstruggle. Brookhaven’s fans swarmed King Field to celebrate thePanthers’ thrilling 27-21 overtime victory Friday night which sentdefending Class 4A state champion Wayne County (12-1) home with itsfirst loss of the season. Erasing a 21-7, fourth-quarter deficit,the Panthers (12-1) made history by winning the third roundgame.

Senior running back Ronny McNulty ran through a huge hole on theright side of his offensive line to score the winning touchdownfrom 10 yards out on first down, in overtime.

Coach Tucker Peavey’s Ole Brook squad advances to the SouthState 4A championship at West Jones Friday night. West Jones (12-1)eliminated South Pike, winning 19-0 at Magnolia.

Clarksdale hosts Lafayette County in the North championship gameFriday night. The state championship is Dec. 4, at MississippiVeterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson.

“That was the biggest hole I’ve ever seen,” said McNulty, seatedin the training room, soaking his left ankle in a 5-gallon bucketof ice water. “My line took care of me.”

Brookhaven’s offense and defense came to life in the fourthquarter after the War Eagles had pulled ahead 21-7. QuarterbackJimmy Johns directed the comeback, running 31 yards for a touchdownand passing 3 yards to Darius Perkins for another.

An outstanding catch, made by wide receiver Bud Chatman, came 1play earlier. It will be remembered as the Remarkable Reception.Facing a fourth down at Wayne County’s 36-yard line, Johns threw astrike to Chatman who was falling backwards as he cradled the catchat the 3-yard line.

Will Thibodeaux’s PAT kick gained Brookhaven a 21-21 deadlockwith 1:07 left to play.

Brookhaven went on offense first in overtime and McNulty wasalmost untouched as he crossed the goal line. Thibodeaux was wideright on the PAT kick and Brookhaven led 27-21.

The Eagles had 4 tries to score from the 10-yard line but cameup empty. Arthur Everett picked up 1 yard on first down.Quarterback Drexler Johnson threw incomplete on second down asJenkins broke up the pass intended for Steven Chambers at the goalline. Johnson slipped as he tried to elude Brookhaven’s rush onthird down and lost 3 yards.

Facing a fourth down at the 12, Johnson found his receiverscovered and scrambled to the 8 where he was tackled. Johns andChatman were inserted and played a safety/linebacker positions inthe overtime series.

“It was a great ballgame,” said Wayne County head coach MarcusBoyles. “We couldn’t’ stick that fourth bagger (touchdown) inthere.

“Brookhaven has a great team and Johns is outstanding,” Boylesadded. “We had a great season.”

Johns rushed for 169 yards and passed for 71. With his teamtrailing 14-0 in the second quarter, Johns took a keeper on fourthdown, bounced to the outside and raced down the sideline for thescore. One play earlier, he had absorbed a hard hit to the leftside of his left rib cage.

“I’m tremendously happy,” said Johns, while the BHS bandserenaded the team from behind the north end zone. “We still haveto travel to West Jones and win two more games.

“This is my best win of my career,” Johns pointed out. “We havesome great players on our team. Bud made a tremendous catch.”

Momentum made a sudden shift after Brookhaven had pulled within21-14. The Eagles quickly drove to the Panthers’ 25-yard line in 4plays. Brookhaven’s defense rose to the occasion and the Eaglessettled for a 42-yard field goal attempt by Brandon Sellers.

Defensive end Larry Winters broke through to block the fieldgoal, Jenkins scooped up the football and returned it 6 yards tothe 38.

Nine plays later, Chatman made his Remarkable Reception. “All Icould think about was helping the team,” said Chatman. “Coach(Peavey) called the play for me and I took care of business.”

Peavey said he was pleased with Chatman’s performance. “Ibelieve in what Bud can do. He made some big plays out theretonight,” including a 35-yard punt return that set up Brookhaven’ssecond TD.

“Give our players credit,” said Peavey. “All year long they havenever quit. Our football team wants to compete.

“It’s satisfying to know you won a game like this against anoutstanding team like Wayne County.”

The Eagles came out strong. On their first possession of thegame, they went 75 yards in 11 plays. Everett plunged the final 5yards for a 7-0 lead.

Marquise Ray took a short pass from Johnson, dodged a tacklerand raced 63 yards for a TD, making it 14-0. In the third frame,Kenneth Whigham ran a slant pattern and took Johnson’s pass 23yards to paydirt for a 21-7 advantage.