Brookhaven Academy quarterback Chandler Rogers is known best forhis strong-armed passing skills but he used his quick feet andstrong legs to beat Central Hinds Academy 42-13 Friday night in anMAIS Class AA showdown of unbeaten teams. Rogers rushed for fivetouchdowns in his team’s triumph on R.M. “Red” Stuard Field.

That performance has earned Rogers The DAILY LEADER’s OffensivePlayer of the Week award.

He scored on runs of 3, 1, 2, 17 and 47 yards. He finished with 12carries for 108 yards. He also completed 11 of 18 passes for 197yards with no interceptions.

Rogers said he was eager to share the glory with his offensiveline. “I would give the MVP to the offensive line. All week we workto prepare for the next game. No matter how hard we skill playerswork, the offensive line always seems to outwork us.”

That work ethic was rewarded against Central Hinds. “When I ran forfive touchdowns, all their hard work really paid off.” They didn’tallow a sack.

BA’s offensive linemen are Hunter Franklin at center, Alan MichaelAllred at left tackle, Cameron Barry at left guard, Ken Britt atright guard and Caleb Dunaway at right tackle. C.J. Duckworth andSidney Chaffin work at tight end.

Besides having a strong arm, Rogers has concentrated on improvinghis leg strength during the offseason workouts.

Davis said, “Chandler has pretty good speed. He ran well at thecamps this summer.”

Rogers wants to play college football. He said Ole Miss andSouthern Miss are his favorites. Numerous other colleges also havecontacted him by letter and telephone.

He said the recruiting process is secondary to his goal of leadingthe Cougars to a second straight state championship. “Right now mypriority is Brookhaven Academy football.”

He made an unofficial visit to Ole Miss last Saturday and watchedthe Rebels fall to Vanderbilt in their first SEC test.

“Chandler can play D-I football,” said Davis. “Whoever signs himwill get a steal.”

Rogers usually watches film with the BA coaches on Sundayafternoon. He learns a lot from Coaches Herbert Davis and KennyWilliams.

“We watch film every Sunday,” said Rogers. “Coach Davis and I sitdown and get some kind of game plan together.”

When reviewing film on Central Hinds, Rogers said the coachesrecognized something important. “We noticed they had a flaw ontheir defensive line. We felt like we could exploit it.”

Asked about his foot speed, Rogers said,, “The fastest I’ve run the40 in is 4.68.”

He has a 9-4 leap in the broad jump and his vertical leap is 36inches.

More time was spent Sunday in the film room as the Cougars beganpreparing for a major road test at Simpson County Academy inMendenhall.

“We spent four or five hours Sunday watching film and saw what weneed to do,” said Rogers. “They have a lot of size like CentralHinds but Simpson is faster. They have some speed on them.”

Rogers is the 17-year-old son of Jeff and Karen Rogers. His motherteaches seventh and eighth grade classes at BA. His father worksfor Georgia Pacific.

His younger sister, Peyton, is a seventh grader at BA. She playsbasketball and softball and is a cheerleader.

Quizzed about his future, Rogers said he definitely wants to playcollege football. He is considering a career in psychology.