Cross-county rivalries were the theme at Friday’s matchup between the South Pike Eagles and the hometown Brookhaven Panthers. Brookhaven would make enough plays in the second half to hold off the Eagles 33-28 in the match up of former district foes.

A Sevante Quinn 1-yard quarterback sneak would be the game winner as Brookhaven trailed 28-27 with less than three minutes remaining in the game.

The Panther rushing attack powered Brookhaven in the first half as junior runner JQ Edwards ran for two first half scores and sophomore running back Gabe Burnett added a touchdown of his own.

The teams were tied 20-20 at halftime.

“We played a heck of a team tonight and South Pike is going to dominate their division no doubt,” said wide receiver John Hilbert. “Our offensive line held up pretty good and I have to give a lot of props to our running back JQ Edwards for what he was doing.”

Hilbert would hook up with Quinn in the first half for a touchdown via the air.

South Pike quarterback Dontavious Turner proved to be the dual threat weapon that the Panther coaching staff had feared he would be.

Consistent passing plays by the Eagle offense slowly cut into Panther territory as they scored most of their points by driving down the field and then utilizing a strong run game in the red zone to punch it in for quick points. 

The Panther offense had a different and just as successful strategy. Edwards led the offense with a very impressive outside running game and stretched the Eagle defense out from sideline to sideline and by doing so exhausted the linebackers and defensive line. They ultimately clinched the victory with this strategy.

  “We didn’t quit and we played a heck of a game as a team,” said Edwards. “We have to keep finishing our games hard like we did tonight and continue doing what we have to do to win.”

BHS was down four players tonight, including senior Coker Wright, but the adjustments the Panthers made showed the depth and determination to pull off a win.

“We had some big plays on both sides of the ball but we’ve got to get healthy and do what we have to get our team back to 100 percent, said Brookhaven coach Tucker Peavey. “Tonight’s game and atmosphere is how it was in the good old days of South Pike versus Brookhaven and I enjoyed getting to be a part of it.”

Story by Paden Phillips