Homecoming seemed to bring out the best in Brookhavenquarterback Jimmy Johns Friday night on King Field. Johns passedfor three touchdowns and ran for another as the No. 8-rankedPanthers smashed Laurel’s Golden Tornadoes 42-15 in a triumphantcelebration for homecoming queen Taylor Crane and her court.

Brookhaven (8-1) roared to a 35-3 halftime lead over Laurel.Johns threw touchdown passes to Bud Chatman for 73 yards, MichaelThrasher for 11 yards and Taurean Jones for 25 yards.

Ole Brook sophomore running back Charles Wilson rushed thefootball 16 times for 127 yards and two more TDs, scoring on runsof 11 and 18 yards. Wilson was filling in for senior Ronny McNultywho suffered a fractured left ankle in last Friday’s win at SouthPike.

Johns completed 5 of 11 passes for 154 yards and rushed 12 timesfor 119 yards and 1 TD, giving him a total offense of 273 yards. Heexited the game with 10:04 left to play, following his 10-yard TDrun and serving as holder for Thibodeaux’s PAT.

Laurel coach Chris Gale said he was disappointed with his team’sperformance. “We took this one on the chin. This was our worst lossand we are only two weeks away from the playoffs.

“Hats off to Brookhaven,” Gale added. “With their athleticismand our goof-ups, it was a bad night. Johns is some kind of amonster out there. He’s tough.”

Laurel scored twice in the fourth quarter as Ole Brook coachTucker Peavey began substituting early. Laurel tight end BrettBarlow caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from quarterback XavierDavis and Davis ran 8 yards for another TD.

Gale’s team fell to 4-4-1 on the season. The Tornadoes only had40 yards total offense and 4 first downs the first half, with 37yards coming on the ground.

The Panthers started fast. Anthony Caffie returned thegame-opening kickoff 68 yards to the Laurel 28. Three plays laterWilson circled left end and scored from 11 yards out.

Will Thibodeaux kicked his first of 6 extra points with 10:50left in the first quarter.

Laurel got a 35-yard field goal from P.J. Harvey on its firstpossession and trailed 7-3.

Brookhaven responded with 4 unanswered touchdowns. On the nextseries, Johns hit Chatman with a short pass which became a 73-yardtouchdown play.

Chatman, who caught 2 passes for 96 yards, said the Panthersplayed well as a team. “I got some good blocking on that touchdownpass. I found a hole and took it to the end zone. Our line blockedwell tonight.”

On their next possession, the Panthers went 65 yards in 5 plays.Wilson covered the final 8 yards. He was tackled low at the 1 butdid a somersault into the end zone. It was 21-3 with 2:30 left inthe first quarter.

On the first play of the second quarter, Johns threw a strike toThrasher and the big tight end rumbled into the end zone for a 28-3advantage.

Senior offensive tackle Zach Ray said the homecoming victory wasspecial. “I knew this was the last time. I wouldn’t get anotherhomecoming. Jimmy and our receivers played well.”

Caffie intercepted Laurel backup quarterback Jason House at theBrookhaven 31-yard line. That launched a 10-play march, highlightedby Johns throwing to Chatman for 23 yards on a fourth downconversion and then finding Jones wide open for the TD, making it35-3 with 5:01 left in the first half.

“It was a good game all around,” said Peavey. “We did a lot ofthings well. We ran and passed the ball effectively. Our defensegot put in a bind the first half but they did a great job. Laurelhas some good skill players.”

Ole Brook senior defensive tackle Jessie Bowman sustained ashoulder injury and Peavey elected to keep him out of action thesecond half.

For the game, Laurel rushed the football 37 times for 182 yards.Marcus Jefferson came off the bench in the second half and rushed 9times for 71 yards.