Brookhaven Academy resumed its District 4-AA schedule Friday,hosting the Columbia Academy Cougars for Senior Night at R.M. “Red”Stuard Field. Thanks to a breakout first half offensively,Brookhaven made it a special night for its seniors with a 45-21 winover the visiting Cougars.

Brookhaven improved to 9-1 overall and 3-0 in district play.Columbia fell to 3-7 overall and 2-2 in the district.

“We played pretty well in the first half.” said BA head coachHerbert Davis. “We were able to jump out to a big lead and get ouryounger guys some playing time and get our starters some rest atthe same time. Both of those things are important for us at thispoint of the season.”

Brookhaven forced a Columbia punt on the opening drive of the game,and the scoring onslaught began for the Cougars. Landon Nettlesregistered the first points of the game at the 7:15 mark of thefirst quarter on a six yard run, capping a 5-play, 86 yard drive.Tyler Trout went six-for-six on the extra points for thenight.

At the 2:42 mark of the opening quarter, quarterback ChandlerRogers connected with Bubba Keene from 8 yards out, pushing theBrookhaven lead to 14-0.

Nettles opened the scoring in the second quarter at the 10:50 markas the Cougars marched 76-yards in 7 plays before Nettles’ 1-yardrun. Trout added a 38-yard field goal with 4:14 remaining in thehalf to push the Cougar lead to 24-0.

After Brookhaven’s defense forced Columbia into a quick three andout, Rogers hooked up with Keene on a 62-yard bomb with 1:13remaining in the half.

Sophomore Gage Posey took over for Rogers in the second half. Onthe opening possession, Posey marched the Cougars 69 yards in sevenplays before scoring on a 1-yard run.

Columbia got its first score of the night at the 2:37 mark of thethird quarter as Josh Broom scored on a 15-yard run. Logan Cookadded the extra point to cut BA’s lead to 38-7.

Brookhaven responded on its next drive as the Cougars went 67 yardsin 15 plays. C.J. Duckworth scored on a 1-yard run with 7:36remaining in the game.

Columbia added two scores in the final minutes to cut theBrookhaven lead. Broom scored on a 63 yard run with 6:32 remainingand Robert Ward added a 60-yard run with 3:22 lef, ending thescoring at 45-21.

Rogers led the Brookhaven offense, completing 12 of his 19 passattempts for 240 yards and two touchdowns in two quarters of play.He was intercepted once. Posey took over in the second half andcompleted 6 of his 12 pass attempts for 90 yards. He also picked up85 yards on 8 carries and a touchdown. Landon Nettles had 9 carriesfor 63 yards and two touchdowns.

Bubba Keene was the leading receiver with 6 receptions for 130yards and two scores. Sidney Chaffin caught 4 passes for117-yards.

Broom led Columbia, picking up 140 yards on 15 carries with twotouchdowns. Ward followed with 105 yards on 12 carries with atouchdown.

On defense, C.J. Duckworth led Brookhaven with 12 tackles. HunterFranklin and Bailey Hodge each registered 11 stops. Alan MichaelAllred made ten stops. Gage Posey had two interceptions.

Brookhaven concludes the regular season Friday night on the roadagainst Bowling Green. Kickoff in Franklinton, La is set for 7p.m.