The annual rivalry matchup between Brookhaven High and Lawrence County has recently delivered some hard-fought games between the Panthers and Cougars and the 2024 edition on Friday lived up to that tradition.

Brookhaven High School led 14-12 after three quarters and used two touchdowns in the final 12 minutes to earn a 28-12 win in the season opener for both teams in Monticello.

The teams were evenly matched as both are rebuilding after losing some big stars in their offensive backfield to graduation.

“We’re young and we’re learning, and I thought we played good on defense, they played their hearts out,” said longtime BHS head coach Tucker Peavey. “Now we’ve got to go back and evaluate and get better, if we do that, then we’ve got a chance to keep climbing.”

Last season Brookhaven High had issues finding a healthy quarterback as sophomore Jaden Allen and junior Dreamus Harron Jr. both battled injuries that sidelined them at one point.

The thought has been that if Allen ends up taking the majority of snaps, there are a variety of places that Harron Jr. can play in order to help the Panthers.

Improving the passing game has been a goal for the 2024 edition of BHS football and on Friday, Allen, who drew the start despite being shaken up in a scrimmage last week against Mendenhall, found success early throwing the ball.

Allen hooked up with junior wideout Timmothy Smith on the opening drive to get down the LC 13-yard line.

Smith, standing 6-foot and weighing 165-pounds, was a hard player for the Lawrence County defense to cover all night. He pairs well with fellow junior wideout Jeremy Bibbs, who is 6-foot-1, 195-pounds.

Allen then looked for Smith on a pass that came from the 18-yard line after BHS had been moved back by a penalty. Lawrence County defensive back Lauria McDuffey tipped the ball as it lofted towards him, but it came off his fingertips and into the waiting arms of Smith for a Brookhaven High touchdown.

The PAT kick was good and BHS led 7-0 with 8:42 remaining in the first quarter. Sophomore placekicker Isaac Iles finished 4-for-4 on point after kicks, pretty solid for a soccer player who’d never kicked in a football game until Friday night. The Panthers also got good special teams play from junior Crews Stewart, another newcomer to the team from soccer, on kickoffs.

The Brookhaven High defense was swarming early as they forced Lawrence County to punt out of their own endzone in the first quarter.

The subsequent good field position was boosted by another long throw from Allen to Smith for a 30-yard gain that got BHS down to the Cougar 10-yard line. The way Smith turned and adjusted in air to make the leaping catch had the large contingent of fans from Brookhaven High roaring in approval.

Smith finished the game with six catches for 122 yards and the one score. Allen went 9-of-15 passing for 136 yards through the air.

A few plays later junior running back Kaden Quarles smashed into the endzone from the 2-yard line to put the Panthers ahead 14-0 with 1:34 remaining in the first quarter.

Lawrence County came to life offensively after going down two scores.

Cougar running back Laurie McDuffey took a handoff around the left side and picked up a first down as BHS senior defensive back Jamaal Brown smashed into him with a lowered shoulder.

It was the kind of hit that the people buying sweet tea from the Lawrence County cheerleaders beside the concession stand could hear and the game had several of those moments as each side played with great effort. To their credit, neither Brown or McDuffey taunted each other as they ran back to their teams after the big collision.

The Cougar offense broke through when sophomore running back Jessie Collins took a sweep around the right side and raced to the endzone for a 23-yard touchdown that came just 51 second into the second quarter. The two-point conversion try was stopped by BHS.

The rest of the second quarter would see the Panthers take one step forward and two steps back on offense. They had a drive stall due to two straight dropped passes and fell out of rhythm. BHS led 14-6 at halftime as both bands performed for the large home crowd.

Similarly, the Lawrence County offense had trouble finding success for much of that middle portion too. Part of that was how fast the Brookhaven High defense was closing.

When Cougar quarterback James McDuffey dropped back to pass, he often found sophomore defensive end Derwin Fields giving chase alongside senior defensive tackle Christian Jones. Junior defensive back EJ Ratliff and junior linebacker Durrell Washington are two more Panthers that catch your eye with the way they fly around the field in pursuit of the ball.

Lawrence County got its final score of the night as the horn sounded to end the third quarter. Junior Devon McDuffey raced 30-yard down the home sideline to the excitement of the Cougar faithful. The conversion attempt was no good and BHS still led 14-12.

A big, but young offensive line for Brookhaven High started to wear into their opponents as the Panthers kept things on the ground in the fourth quarter.

Center RJ Henderson is a sophomore as is left guard Philip Tobias Jr. and left tackle Coderro McDaniel. The 6-foot-4, 290-pound McDaniel was the biggest player on the field for either team. Junior guard Zacarias Richardson and junior tackle Randy Jones paved the way for Quarles to pick up some big yards in the fourth quarter. Quarles finished with 108 yards on 23 carries.

A 3-yard touchdown run by Quarles put the Panthers ahead 21-12 with 7:22 remaining in the game. Quarles looked like he was going to score again later in the quarter, but fumbled the ball after a hit from an LC defender.

Senior receiver Samarion Buckley hustled down to recover the ball and Allen then scored on a run from the 2-yard line to provide the final points of the night.

With the field getting a good drenching earlier in the day, the humidity was like playing a third opponent and both teams had players cramping up at various points.

“We’ve got to get in better shape, there is no doubt about that,” said Peavey afterwards as he commented on how hot the game felt.

Brookhaven High will head in the opposite direction down Highway 84 next week to play at Franklin County (0-1) in Meadville. First year FC head coach Jonahtan Brooks and his team lost 23-18 to North Pike on Friday. Lawrence County (0-1) will be back at home taking on Jefferson Davis County in Monticello next week.

“That’s a good team over there (Brookhaven High) and they played hard,” said LC head coach Jesse Anderson. “We’ve got to look at the film and see what we did wrong to correct it. We’ve got to look at the things that worked and do them a little better next week.”