LAUREL — “Going to the ‘ship! Going to the ‘ship!”

Brookhaven football players chanted that slogan as the finalseconds evaporated from the scoreboard clock Friday night inMustang Stadium. The Ole Brook Panthers won the right to play forthe Class 4A state championship by defeating the West JonesMustangs 28-14 in the South state title game.

Brookhaven (13-1), winner of 12 straight games, plays Northstate champion Clarksdale Saturday night in Mississippi VeteransMemorial Stadium. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. Clarksdale (11-3) whippedLafayette County 48-7 for the North crown.

A roaring, overflow crowd, estimated at 8,500 watched the twoheavyweights slug it out on a chilly night. After a scoreless firstquarter, senior quarterback Jimmy Johns and his Panther teammatesbegan taking control of the contest. Johns passed for touchdowns of84 yards to Taurean Jones and 15 yards to Montral Smith.

Will Thibodeaux kicked both extra points and the Panthers led14-0 at halftime. They limited the Mustangs to just 3 first downsand 16 yards total offense the first half.

After West Jones gained a 14-14 deadlock in the third quarter,Brookhaven regained the momentum as Johns directed the Panthers 88yards in 8 plays. Ronny McNulty ran the final 5 yards around rightend as Johns led the blocking.

Thibodeaux’s PAT pushed the Panthers ahead 21-14 with 54 secondsleft in the third quarter.

“We passed the ball really well and our receivers caught theball well,” said Johns as he was embraced by his mother andstepfather after the game. “We don’t quit. We’re like the die-hardbattery and the Energizer Bunny, we never quit.”

Johns completed 12 of 26 passes for 231 yards and rushed for 125yards. He completed a 16-yard pass to Smith and rushed the football3 times for 67 yards on the go-ahead touchdown drive.

“Jimmy played a great game,” said Ole Brook coach Tucker Peavey.”We had a lot of players who did a great job tonight, especiallyour defense.”

The Panthers pulled a surprise on the Mustangs in the fourthquarter. Appearing to settle for a 37-yard field goal attempt byThibodeaux, Peavey called for a fake. Johns took the snap fromcenter, placed the ball on the tee, suddenly sprang to his feet andmade a shovel pass to Bud Chatman who took it 20 yards to paydirtfor a 28-14 advantage.

West Jones head coach Scott Pierson watched his Mustangs (12-2)lose in the South state title game for a second straight year. Theywere eliminated by defending state champion Wayne County in2003.

Pierson praised Johns for his performance. “The difference wasNo. 10 (Johns). “Any time he wanted to take the game over, hedid.

“Our kids played hard and executed in the third quarter,”Pierson pointed out. “We had a bad first half.”

West Jones (12-2) refused to fold and came back strong in thethird frame as junior quarterback Warren Herrington threw touchdownpasses of 27 yards to Will Thigpen and 55 yards to Nathan Sumrall.A pair of extra point kicks by Nick Adams gained a 14-14 deadlockwith 2:45 showing, and sent the home crowd into a frenzy.

Ole Brook’s defense rose to the occasion after going up 21-14.The Panthers put heavy pressure on Herrington and the green-cladMustangs managed only 4 first downs and didn’t cross midfield theremainder of the game. Chatman intercepted Herrington at midfieldand returned the theft to the Mustangs’ 44 with 1:36 left toplay.

“We played relentless, as one,” said BHS senior linebacker EricEdwards. “We found a way to win.”

On defense, Virgil Sanders led the Pantherswith 11 tackles, including 4 solo stops and 2 quarterback sacks.Bart Sias and Darius Perkins both had 7 tackles. Jessie Bowman had6 tackles and a sack.