Brookhaven Academy entered Friday night’s game with Simpson,having just two wins on the season. More importantly, the two winscame in district games, allowing the Cougars to sit alone in firstplace in District 4-AA. Friday night was homecoming for theCougars, but first and foremost it was another district match upwith a chance for Brookhaven to win the conference title for thesecond straight year.

A capacity blue and white clad crowd filled the stands to watchthe Cougars overcome mistakes and an upset-minded Simpson team,knocking off the Mendenhall-based Cougars 20-17 to improve to 3-3on the year. Brookhaven improved to 3-0 in district play andclinched the district title and home field advantage in the stateplayoffs for the second consecutive year. Simpson dropped to 2-4overall and 1-1 in district play.

Early it looked as though nothing would go Brookhaven’s way.After the Cougars received the opening kickoff, Simpson held theCougars to a 3 and out. A mishandled snap on the punt set Simpsonup at the Brookhaven 11 yard line. Three plays later, Simpsonquarterback Kyle Munn scored on a 3 yard run. Tyler Fitzgeraldadded the extra point, giving Simpson a 7-0 lead with 8:53 left inthe first quarter.

After trading possessions, Brookhaven put together a drive andput its first points on the night on the board with 11:55 remainingin first half. Kolby Byrd scored on a 3 yard run. The extra pointattempt failed, closing the Simpson lead to 7-6 at the half.

Simpson got its final touchdown of the night with 7:24 left inthe third quarter. Chase Williams busted loose with an 87 yard runup the sideline, giving the visiting Cougars a 14-6 lead after theextra point.

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