Brookhaven Academy fans gathered at R.M. “Red” Stuard FieldFriday night to watch the Cougars play their final regular seasongame against Yazoo City Manchester. The Mavericks entered the gamewith a 7-2 record and were considered by many to be one of the topteams in the north half of the state in Academy AA football. Butthanks to an excellent performance by senior wide receiver/runningback/defensive back Corey Dickerson, the Cougars made sure theMavericks had a long ride back to Yazoo City.

Brookhaven thumped the Mavericks 36-14, finishing the regularseason with an 8-3 mark prior to heading into Friday night’s firstround playoff game. Manchester, which has qualified for theplayoffs as the No. 2 team out of district 2-AA, fell to 7-3 on theyear.

“This was one of the best efforts we’ve had all year.” saidBrookhaven second-year head coach Bo Milton. “We played really wellon defense, we didn’t turn the ball over and we got big plays whenwe needed them.

“That touchdown pass Corey caught late in the first half and thenthe long run he had to start the second half really broke the gameopen.” continued Milton.

“They played us close in the first half but we made the plays inthe second half and pulled away. Hopefully this will give usconfidence going in to the playoffs.”

Dickerson had one of his best performances of the year, registeringfour touchdowns to lead Brookhaven to the win. He started thingsoff for Brookhaven at the 3:23 mark of the first quarter byintercepting a pass from Maverick quarterback Tax Alias and dodgingwould-be tacklers before racing 74 yards to the end zone. DanielLofton added the two-point conversion for an 8-0 Cougar lead.

Brookhaven’s defense kept Manchester in check most of the night,but a big punt return by Jon Phillips Damiens set the Mavericks upinside the Brookhaven 20 yard line. Three plays later, WesHumphreys darted in from 14 yards out. Alias found Landon Lynch forthe two-point conversion, knotting things up at 8 with 3:59 left inthe first half.

The Cougars wasted little time responding to the Maverick score asLofton found Dickerson on a 39-yard touchdown pass with 1:01showing on the clock. Nathaniel Sbravati added the extra point fora 15-8 Cougar lead at the half.

Brookhaven picked up right where it left off to start the secondhalf as the Cougars registered 21 straight points to take acommanding 36-8 lead in to the fourth quarter. The first score ofthe second half came on the opening drive as Dickerson took aninside handoff from Lofton and darted 54 yard untouched up themiddle for the score. The extra point attempt failed, giving theCougars a 21-8 lead with 9:56 showing on the clock.

After the ensuing Maverick drive ended in a punt, Brookhaven tookpossession near midfield. Four plays later, and on the exact sameplay as the previous score, Dickerson again took the inside handoffand raced 43 yards up the middle for the score. Lofton foundSbravati for the two point conversion, giving the Cougars a 29-8lead with 7:01 left in the third quarter.

The final score of the night for Brookhaven came at the 4:12 markof the third. Lofton faked the handoff and raced 27 yards for thetouchdown. Dickerson added the extra point for a 36-8 lead.

Manchester’s only other score came with 1:22 left in the game on a52 yard run by Michael Hayes. The extra point attempt was blocked,ending the scoring at 36-14.

Dickerson led the Brookhaven offense with 138 yards on sevencarries with two touchdowns. Lofton added 71 yards on 13 carrieswith a touchdown. Lofton also completed 3 of his 4 pass attemptsfor 42 yards and a touchdown.

Michael Haynes led the Mavericks with 62 yards on three carries.Britton Spencer added 51 yards on 9 carries and Wes Humphreyspicked up 51 yards on 8 carries.

On defense, Jeremy James led Brookhaven with 10tackles. Daniel Lofton and Steven Watts added 5 tackles apiece.

Brookhaven begins the AA State playoffs Friday night as the Cougarshost Oak Forest, La. Kickoff is 7 p.m.