By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
Buckeye coach Ben McLaughlin knows his defense may not get many stops each week.
But he only needs the Panthers to make a few to outscore their opponents.
That’s exactly what happened last Friday night as the Panthers made several important second-half defensive stands on their way to winning a thrilling 47-42 shootout over Caldwell to improve to 5-3 on the season and 2-1 in District 2-3A play.
The Panthers, who trailed by two touchdowns in the first quarter, have relied on the powerful legs of Jim Burlew all season, and Friday night was no different as the dynamic junior running back rushed 44 times for 178 yards and five touchdowns.
“This is the first time someone has held him to 4 yards per carry,” Buckeye coach Ben McLaughlin said. “He was getting 2 yards, 3 yards early on. Those runs in the first quarter were hard to earn, but in the second half he started ripping off 6, 7, 8 yards per carry. The offensive linemen started imposing their will, and he gets stronger as the game goes on.”
But when it came time to rally for victory in the fourth quarter, McLaughlin put his trust in the right arm of junior quarterback Adam Brodnax, the first-year player who continues improving with each game.
The Panthers took their first lead of the game on the first play of the fourth quarter when Brodnax found Haidyn Boone for a 20-yard touchdown and a 40-35 lead.
After recovering an onside kick, Brodnax hit Boone again on a nearly identical play call for a 35-yard touchdown that was delivered perfectly for a 47-35 lead.
“He has definitely gotten better at understanding what we are trying to accomplish,” McLaughlin said of his quarterback, who has thrown for 1,441 yards and 13 touchdowns this season.
Burlew, who has now rushed more than 40 times in three of the past four Buckeye games, scored on first-half runs of 3, 6 and 2 yards as the Panthers trailed 28-21 at halftime. He added 6- and 1-yard TD runs in the third quarter, setting the stage for Buckeye to complete the comeback victory in the fourth.
With another sensational showing, Burlew pushed his season totals to 1,350 yards and 26 rushing touchdowns. While he carried the Panthers for three quarters, it was the Brodnax-to-Boone combination that brought home the win.
The two star baseball players continued to hone their blossoming connection on the gridiron as Brodnax completed 15 of 26 passes for 245 yards – a career high in completions and just five yards shy of his top mark. Boone caught five passes for 127 yards, his second-best game of the season, but his final two receptions were by far the most important of the year so far.
“We know the style of football we want to play,” McLaughlin said. “Our whole goal is to try to sustain that level of uptempo football.”
MENARD 16, ROSEPINE 0
The Eagles’ defense continued its impressive run of performances with a third shutout of the season and second in District 4-2A play as Menard (5-3, 3-0) moved within one win of a district championship.
The Eagles scored on their opening drive for the third consecutive game as they marched into the red zone and capped the drive with a 7-yard touchdown run by Gavin Hilton on a jet sweep to take a 6-0 lead.
On Menard’s next offensive possession Hilton ran by the defense and caught a 43-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Jake Vaughn for a 13-0 lead.
After scoring twice quickly to start the game, the Eagles didn’t score again until Ryan Hicks connected on a 20-yard field goal with 4:53 left to play in the game.
Rosepine (3-5, 1-1) was bottled up all game by Menard’s stingy run defense, gaining just 50 yards in the game and zero yards in the second half.
The victory gave the Eagles at least a share of the district championship. They will host Oakdale Friday night for Homecoming, and a win in that game will give Menard the district title outright.
PEABODY 45, GRANT 16
Peabody struck first, last and many times in between on its way to an easy victory to set up a huge showdown at Tioga in Week 9.
Senior safety Eric Vories, who made 10 tackles in the game, capped the Warhorses’ scoring efforts with a 102-yard pick-6 in the fourth quarter as Peabody improved to 6-2 on the season and 1-1 in District 2-4A.
Dartavin Depass had two first-half rushing touchdowns, while Nate Francis added two in the second half and Larry Roberts III threw two TD passes to TJ Hullaby as a big third quarter broke open a 12-8 game at the half.
Roberts passed for 267 yards in the game, while Hullaby had nine receptions for 120 yards. Francis added 138 yards on the ground, and Depass finished with five catches and 114 combined rushing and receiving yards.
TIOGA 50, PINEVILLE 14
JT Lindsey rushed for three touchdowns while Ty Feaster passed for two and ran for one of his own as Alexandria Senior High scored 50 unanswered points in the first half and cruised over Pineville.
The Trojans scored on all six of their offensive possessions in the first half and even added a defensive touchdown on a pick-6 by free safety Jason Blackwell.