The Brookhaven Panthers (7-3) held off a spirited comeback attempt by the South Jones Braves (5-6) Friday night in Ellisville before taking a 41-27 win in Region 3-5A action.

The Panthers led 19-6 at halftime.

With 6:30 remaining in the game the Braves perfectly executed a screen play to score and cut the BHS lead to 34-27.

That Brave drive came after a Brookhaven turnover when it looked like the Panthers had the game in hand.

After the South Jones score cut it to a touchdown game, the Braves attempted an onside kick that was recovered by John Hilbert of Brookhaven High.

BHS made South Jones pay for giving them a short field when sophomore running back Gabriel Burnett raced in from 30 yards out to put Brookhaven up 41-27 and effectively snuff out any further South Jones rally.

Burnett was the man for BHS as the sophomore rushed 13 times for 166 yards. As a team the Panthers gained a whopping 360 yards on the ground and put up 503 yards of total offense.

Brookhaven coach Tucker Peavey had said the game was like a playoff with the Panthers having to win to keep their position in the region race.

Peavey was pleased with the effort of his team on both sides of the ball against the Braves.

“We overcame some of our own mistakes tonight,” said Peavey. “We played hard on offense and I’m of our execution. The defense got stops when we had to have them.”

The Panthers close the regular season Friday on King Field when they host the West Jones Mustangs.

Story by Cliff Furr