LIBERTY — Brookhaven Academy opened the District 4-AA campaignFriday night against the Amite School Center Rebels, sporting thestate’s longest winning streak at 18 games. And thanks to adominating effort, the Cougars made sure they continued the winstreak, but more importantly opened the district race with aconvincing 41-8 win.

Brookhaven improved to 4-0 on the season and 1-0 in district play.Amite lost its third straight game and fell to 1-3 overall and 0-1in district play.

“We dropped a lot of passes tonight that should’ve beentouchdowns.” said BA coach Herbert Davis. “We haven’t been able toget our starters a great amount of playing time because of the waythe first four games have gone and that concerns us a bit.

“We have to do a better job of executing offensively, not just atthe skill positions but blocking as well. And our defense has to doa better job of getting in their gaps and sticking with theirassignments. We’re getting in to a tough stretch of the season andwe have got to be able to execute a lot better on both sides of theball and put together a complete game.”

The Cougars took the opening drive and marched 71 yards in 5plays before senior quarterback Chandler Rogers connected withfellow senior Sidney Chaffin on a 22-yard scoring strike. CodyHenley added the extra point for a 7-0 Brookhaven lead with 9:48left in the opening quarter.

After forcing a Rebel punt, the Cougars responded with a 4-play,59-yard drive that was capped off with Jennings Mills scoring on a36-yard scamper, giving the visitors a 14-0 lead with 5:49remaining in the opening period.

Points proved to be easy to come by for the Cougars as they addedtwo more scores in the first half. Mills had a 13-yard run at the11:35 mark of the second quarter after the Cougars recovered aRebel fumble. Henley added the extra point for a 21-0 Brookhavenlead.

At the 8:49 mark, Rogers again connected with Chaffin, this timefrom 49 yards, pushing the Cougar lead to 27-0 at the break.

The offense picked up in the third quarter right where it left offas Mills scored on an 11 yard run with 7:29 left in the third.Henley added the extra point for a 34-0 Cougar lead.

The final score of the night for Brookhaven came at the 2:35 markof the third quarter as backup quarterback Gage Posey connectedwith Chaffin on a 39- yard bomb and pushed the Cougar lead to41-0.

Amite’s only score came at the 5:13 mark of the fourth quarter asBull Toler scored on a 15-yard run. Toler added the 2-pointconversion, closing the scoring at 41-8.

Brookhaven’s defense delivered its most dominating performance upto this point of the season, limiting the Rebels to only 13offensive plays in the first half for a minus-18 yards. That trendcontinued into the fourth quarter when at one point, the Rebelstotaled minus-59 total yards before finally putting togethersuccessful offensive drives.

“Central Hinds comes in Friday and we won’t be able to get awaywith the mistakes we’ve been making against a good team like them,”added Davis. “They’re a big, physical team that’s going to runright at you so our defense has to be ready. We’ve got to do abetter job of catching passes and holding blocks on offensetoo.”

Rogers led the Brookhaven offense, completing 9 of his 12 passattempts for 167 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, he pickedup 23 yards on 3 carries.

Mills was the leading rusher with 6 carries for 90 yards and threescores. Chaffin led all receivers with 4 receptions for 121 yardsand three scores. Gage Posey completed four of his 10 pass attemptsfor 83 yards and a touchdown. Eli Gatlin picked up 65 yards on 7carries in support.

Toler led Amite with 8 carries for 68 yards and a touchdown.

On defense, Bailey Hodge led Brookhaven with seven tackles. CodyHenley and Alan Michael Allred followed with 6 stops apiece. Allredand Joseph Grice each recovered a fumble.

Brookhaven welcomes Central Hinds into R.M. “Red” Stuard FieldFriday night for a key District 4-AA showdown. Kickoff is set for 7p.m.