LAUREL – The Ole Brook Panthers suffered a disappointing 27-15 loss to the Laurel Golden Tornadoes in a Region 3-5A showdown Friday night.

“This was a game of missed opportunities,” said Ole Brook coach Tommy Clopton. “We had our chance to put points on the scoreboard but failed. Overall, the guys played hard and did not give up.

“Ben Robinson did a great job shutting down their No. 1 receiver Octavious Cooley,” continued Clopton. “This is a tough loss to swallow, but we need to regroup quickly to get ready for Wayne County next week.”

In the opening quarter, both teams came out strong and provided an exciting smash mouth defensive bout for the fans as both schools fought hard to work the ball down the field.

With about seven minutes left in the first quarter, the Panthers managed to break up the scoreless game when senior running back Tre McDaniel powered through Laurel’s defense to punch in a 4-yard touchdown. Tyler Mixon was unsuccessful on the extra point attempt.

The Golden Tornadoes managed to finally answer Ole Brook’s challenge with less than a minute left in the first quarter when Keon Howard connected with Omar Baylee for an 11-yard touchdown. Jonathan Atencio kicked the extra-point and was successful on three of his four attempts for the night.

In the second quarter, Laurel would add to their lead after cashing in a 29-yard defensive touchdown by Sam Lovett to give the Tornadoes a 14-6 advantage.

After a tough see-saw defensive battle, Brookhaven would cut into Laurel’s lead with less than a minute left in the second quarter as Tyler Mixon nailed a 25-yard field goal. The Panthers trailed the Tornadoes 14-9 at the half.

In the second half, the Golden Tornadoes came out and quickly set the tone early on their first possession as Laurel marched down the field and scored on a 26-yard pass from Howard to TyQuan Ulmer with 11 minutes left. The score would remain the same throughout the rest of the third quarter with Laurel leading 20-9.

In the fourth quarter, the heated defensive battle would continue. Brookhaven would rally back to cut down Laurel’s lead down to 20-15 with nine minutes left on a 1-yard plunge from Thomas Poole. The Panthers elected to go for the two-point conversion but was unsuccessful.

In a heated defensive struggle, the Golden Tornadoes offense managed to put the game out of reach late in the fourth quarter when Howard punched in a 4-yard rushing touchdown

Brookhaven’s offense was led by McDaniel’s ground attack of 165 yards rushing on 31 carries. Ken Boyd contributed 13 carries for 58 yards. Jon-Mark Mathis provided 42 yards on nine carries, and Thomas Poole had five rushes for 37 yards.

Mathis completed 4-of-14 passes for 43 yards. Darien Wilson was the top receiver with three catches for 36 yards.

Defensively, Leo Lewis powered Ole Brook’s attack with 12 tackles. Greg Watts contributed nine stops. Ben Robinson had four pass break ups.

Brookhaven finally returns home next Friday after a four-week road tour to host the Wayne County War Eagles for another huge Region 3-5A test. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at King Field.