MONTICELLO — In a Friday night showdown for bragging rights andthe Region 6-4A lead, Brookhaven senior quarterback Charles (Bobo)Rancifer stood out like a giant. Rancifer shouldered his team anddirected the Panthers to a 43-32 triumph over the Lawrence CountyCougars in an explosive, high-scooring game, witnessed by anestimated crowd of 3,000.

Rancifer (6-2, 200) provided the Panthers with 228 rushing yardsand two touchdowns. He also hooked up with wide receiver SimmieYarborough on a 35-yard touchdown pass and threw 8 yards to MarcusMagee for another. Rancifer’s 56-yard scramble to the 1-yard lineset up a short scoring plunge by Semmie Smith which put thePanthers up 23-6 with 2:58 left in the first half.

“We came into this game focused,” said Rancifer. “It was arivalry game.” Lawrence County had a parade and a bonfire and theywere ready for us. But we executed up front and our defense did agood job.”

The Cougars got a strong performance from powerful juniorfullback Kendrick Hardy (6-1, 190, jr.) who accumulated 208 yardsand 3 touchdowns on 21 rushes. He scored touchdowns on runs of 70,5 and 30 yards.

On a muggy, sweat-soaked night, the Panthers (5-1, 3-0) handedthe Cougars (5-1, 2-1) their first loss in a game filled with bigplays and momentum changes. Lawrence County’s Matthew Wellsreturned the second-half kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown, reducingBrookhaven’s lead to 23-20.

For the complete story and more local news, become a subscriberto The DAILY LEADER. Contact The DAILY LEADER at 601-833-6961 tosubscribe today!