Brookhaven Academy welcomed the Copiah Academy Colonels to R.M.”Red” Stuard Field Friday night for what has come to be known asthe “Goat Bowl” between the two rivals. After a close, hard foughtfirst half, and an offensively explosive third quarter, Brookhavenpulled away to post a 53-26 victory over the Colonels from Gallman.Brookhaven improved to 2-0 on the young season while CopiahAcademy, coached by Scotty Cline, dropped to 1-1.

Brookhaven was able to register the first points of the game. Afterholding Copiah to a three and out on its first drive, the Cougarsresponded with a 7-play, 50-yard drive that culminated withJennings Mills scoring on a 4-yard run with 6:22 left in theopening quarter. Mills ran in the 2-point conversion, giving theCougars an 8-0 lead.

Copiah responded with a 6-play, 57-yard drive. Kelton Smith scoredon a 4-yard run with 4:01 left in the quarter. Copiah’s 2-pointconversion pass attempt was picked off in the end zone by Mills,leaving the Brookhaven lead at 8-6.

The only other score of the first half came as Brookhavenquarterback Chandler Rogers capped a 4-play, 56-yard drive with a7-yard run with 2:55 left in the first. Tyler Trout added the extrapoint, his first of a perfect 6-for-6 on the night, givingBrookhaven a 15-6 lead at halftime.

Brookhaven opened the scoring of the second half on the openingkickoff as Bubba Keene took the kick from Colonels kicker TyHigganbotham at the 18-yard line and broke several tackles beforeracing 82 yards for the score. Trout added the extra point for a22-6 Cougar lead with 11:47 left in the third.

Copiah responded on the ensuing drive, going 52 yards in two plays,the majority coming on a 40-yard run from Peyton Whitehead with11:10 remaining. The two point conversion attempt failed, cuttingthe Brookhaven lead to 22-12.

It took just one offensive play for Brookhaven to respond, asRogers connected with Keene, who again shed tacklers and raced 61yards for the score. Trout added the extra point for a 29-12Brookhaven lead with 10:51 left in the quarter.

Smith led the ensuing Copiah drive that went 67 yards in 5 plays.Smith scored on a 46-yard run. Higganbotham added the extra point,cutting the Brookhaven lead to 29-19 at the 8:11 mark of thethird.

The Cougars were able to respond with a 3-minute drive that went 62yards in 6 plays as Rogers connected with Keene from one yard out.Trout’s extra point pushed the Brookhaven lead to 36-19 with 5:30left.

It took just three plays for the Colonels to respond, going 68yards in three plays, capped with a Devin Harper 68-yard pass toSmith with 4:06 remaining in the quarter. Higganbotham added theextra point for a 36-26 Brookhaven lead. That would be the lastpoints the Colonels were able to register.

Rogers added a 5-yard run with 2:01 left in the third, capping a 5play, 60 drive and pushing the Cougar lead to 43-26 as Trout addedthe extra point.

Mills added a 27-yard scamper with 11:43 left in the game thatpushed the lead to 50-26. Trout added a 28-yard field goal with5:21 left to close out the scoring.

“Brookhaven is a very good, very skilled offensive team.” saidCopiah head coach Scotty Cline. “We knew they were a great teamcoming in and we were concerned about our young guys and how theywould match up.

“But I thought we did a pretty good job of staying with them untillate in the game when we ran out of gas. We had a chance to scoreinside the five right at the end of the first half but couldn’tpunch it in. That would have been big for us and made it acompletely different game in the second half.

“It’s just so tough to match up with them.” added Cline. “They haveso many good players and such a good offense that it’s tough tostay on the field with them. They have a great team.”

Rogers led the Brookhaven offense, completing 16 of his 20 passattempts for 260 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, he pickedup 82 yards on 8 carries with two more scores.

Mills was able to pick up 51 yards on 6 carries with two scores.Keene led all receivers with 7 receptions for 96 yards and twoscores. He finished with 178 all-purpose yards and threescores.

Smith led Copiah with 98 yards and two scores on 17 carries. DevinHarper followed with 87 yards on 15 carries. Peyton Whiteheadcarried 4 times for 33 yards and a touchdown.

“I thought we had a good offensive effort tonight, but we had toomany penalties.” said BA head coach Herbert Davis. “We threw theball really well, especially with Chandler completing 80 percent ofhis passes. Copiah played us man-to-man in the secondary and if ateam does that we’re going to try to get the ball to Bubba (Keene)and let him make a play.

“Defensively we played OK. We made some adjustments, but we havesome areas that we have to improve on a lot. I’m frustrated withour defense but at the same time we’ve got some bright spots thereand I think we’ll get a lot better in those spots.”

On defense, Mark Rushing led Brookhaven with 18 tackles. AlanMichael Allred followed with 10 stops. Colby Culbertson and C.J.Duckworth each had 9 stops.

Brookhaven welcomes Riverfield, La. to R.M “Red” Stuard FieldFriday night in a non-district matchup. Kickoff is set for 7p.m.