VANCLEAVE – Vancleave took advantage of a Brookhaven fumble totake an early 3-0 lead, but the Panthers returned the favor getting10 points off two Vancleave first half turnovers as they moved onin the 4A playoffs with a 30-3 win on Friday night. The Pantherslimited Vancleave to just 137 yards total offense.

Jon Kihyet recovered a Brookhaven fumble at the Vancleave 30 andthe Bulldogs put together a 12-play drive which was capped off by a27-yard Shane Scheiman field goal.

Brookhaven answered right back on its next possession as theywent on a 14-play drive capped off by a 17-yard field goal by WillThibodeaux.

On the ensuing Vancleave possession, Dre’ Whittle was hit in thebackfield and fumbled and LaTerrius Williams recovered forBrookhaven, giving the Panthers the ball on the Vancleave side ofthe field.

Quarterback Charles Rancifer hooked up with Simmie Yarborough ona couple of pass plays to move the ball inside the Bulldogs’15.

Vancleave’s defense held stiff from there and Thibodeaux booteda 26-yard field goal to make it 6-3 with 2:15 left in the half.

Vancleave (6-4) had another mistake bite them after a nicereturn by Jarrod Ely put the ball on the Brookhaven side of thefield. Bulldog quarterback Craig McMillan was picked off by R.J.Jenkins at the 44 and he returned the ball to the Vancleave 6 with1:05 left in the half.

Rancifer then hooked up with Yarborough on a 6-yard touchdown,pushing the lead to 13-3.

Another nice return by Ely put Vancleave in good position to geta score before the half ended, and a 20-yard hook up from McMillianto Will Yates got Vancleave down to the Panthers’ 6 with 8 secondsleft. McMillian found Chris White in the flat, but he was broughtdown just short of the goal line to end the half.

“We made a couple of mistakes there in the first half and theyturned them into points,” Vancleave head coach Jim Bloomfield said.”They have a very good defense and they really kept us in check. Wehad a couple of chances to put more points on the board, but justcouldn’t punch in.”

The Panthers improved to 7-4 on the season and will host No.1-ranked Wayne County Friday night on King Field. Vancleave ends itseason at 6-4.

“We made some mistakes, but were able to fight through them,”Brookhaven head coach Tucker Peavey said. “Vancleave has a goodfootball team. I think we just played a good defensive footballgame.

“We got some nice things from our offense, but we have to cutdown on those mistakes.”

Brookhaven added to the lead to start the second half as runningback Charles Wilson scored on a 1-yard plunge to make it 20-3 afterthe Thibodeaux extra point. Wilson finished with 24 carries for 139yards.

Thibodeaux increased the lead to 23-3 with a 39-yard field goalwhich capped off an eight-play, 43-yard drive.

Brookhaven got another turnover as Josh Witherspoon recovered abotched pitch on a hook-and-ladder play.

On the first play from scrimmage, freshman Semmie Smith raced55-yards untouched to produce the final margin.

Rancifer was 5-of-6 for 42 yards passing in the game and alsogained 34 yards on the ground. Yarborough caught four passes for 23yards and a score.

The Panthers held the Bulldog rushing attack to just 94yards.

McMillian finished the game 7-of-13 for 57 yards for Vancleave.Whittle was the top rusher with 36 yards on 10 carries.