GALLMAN —    The last two meetings betweenBrookhaven Academy and Copiah Academy have had plenty of offensivefirepower. Most fans expected that trend to continue Friday nightas the Cougars and Colonels squared in the Goat Bowl.

     However, this time it wasdefense and special teams that made the difference as Brookhavenescaped the Colonels with a tough 21-13 win. Brookhaven improved to2-0 on the young season. Copiah fell to 1-1.

    “We made a lot of mistakes that we really shouldn’t have made.”said Brookhaven head coach Tripp McCarty. “We have to executebetter as the season goes on. Our kids played hard and did whatthey had to do to win, but we have to play better next week or wewill be in a lot of trouble.”

    McCarty’s Cougars entertain Simpson Academy Friday night.

    Initially it looked as though Brookhaven would run away with thegame   as it has done theprevious two years, scoring 47 and 53 points in the last twomeetings with the Colonels. It was the Brookhaven defense thatregistered the first points of the night. After forcing the Coloneloffense into a punting situation deep in their own territory,senior Bailey Hodge was able to recover a botched punt attempt inthe Copiah end zone, giving the visitors an early 7-0 lead asChristian Keene added the extra point with 8:06 left in the firstquarter.

     After a Matthew Evansinterception set up the Brookhaven offense at the Colonel 15-yardline, junior quarterback Gage Posey connected with senior JeffRushing for the touchdown, giving the Cougars a 14-0 lead theywould carry into the locker room  at the half.

    Brookhaven received the second half  kickoff but a Cougar fumble gave theColonels the ball at the Brookhaven 12-yard line. Two plays later,Kelton Smith scored on an 11-yard run. Brandon Baker added theextra point, cutting the Brookhaven lead to 14-7 with 11:08 left inthe third.

    The Cougar offense went to work and responded with a 7-play,80-yard drive that ended with Eli Gatlin scoring on a 16-yard run.After the Keene extra point, Brookhaven led 21-7 with 5:30remaining in the third quarter.

    The final score of the night came on the final play of the thirdquarter as Smith found the end zone again for the Colonels on a1-yard run. The extra point attempt was blocked by Brookhaven,ending the scoring at 21-13.

    Brookhaven’s defense ended the would-be Colonel comeback as JeffRushing picked off the Barron Miller pass in the waning seconds tosecure the win for the Cougars.

    “Our kids played hard, but we made some mistakes early and thatended up being the difference.” said Colonels head coach ScottyCline. “You can’t spot a good team 14 points and expect to win. Wehad some chances and didn’t execute them and turnovers killedus.”

    Sophomore running back Landon Nettles led the Brookhaven offense,carrying the ball 25 times for 128 yards. Eli Gatlin followed with43 yards on 3 carries with a touchdown. Junior quarterback GagePosey completed 5 of his 14 pass attempts for 59 yards with atouchdown and an interception. Posey added 49 yards on 13carries.

    Kelton Smith led Copiah, picking up 108 yards on 25 carries. Millercompleted 4 of his 8 pass attempts for 33 yards. He was interceptedtwice.

    On defense, Eli Gatlin and Jacob Philip each had 13 tackles to leadthe Brookhaven defense. Jeff Rushing followed with 11 tackles.Bubba Keene added 9 stops. Matthews Evans and Rushing each recordedan interception. Gatlin recovered a fumble.