There is one more long road trip Friday night for Brookhaven Academy (5-2), as the Cougars travel to Louisiana to face an opponent for the third and final time in 2018.

The Cougar caravan heads to Farmerville, Louisiana, tonight for a 7 p.m. matchup with the Union Christian Academy Lions (4-4). Including a trip to Montgomery, Alabama for an exhibition game, the Cougars will have traveled nearly 2,000 miles in 2018 when you combine the distance of their regular season away games. 

Farmerville sits northwest of Monroe in Union Parish and is located not far from the Arkansas state line. The distance between Brookhaven and the school is 182 miles. The local public school is known as the Fighting Farmers, an awesome nickname that has nothing to do with this game.

Union Christian — a member of the A classification in the MAIS — had a close 22-18 loss to Clinton Christian earlier this season. Clinton Christian is the only common opponent the two teams have, as Brookhaven Academy beat Clinton Christian 38-8 on Aug. 31 to give the Warriors their lone loss of the season so far. 

The Cougars must slow down the duo of the Evans brothers who make the Lions go. Quarterback Kris Evans is a junior, and senior running back Nick Evans is the bell-cow for the Lion offense. Nick averages more than 14 yards per carry.

“We’ve got to play smart defensively and stop those two guys,” said BA head coach Ron Rushing.

Brookhaven Academy is coming off of a 42-16 trouncing of Benton Academy. The Cougars close the regular season next week with a trip to Liberty to take on Amite School Center.

Story by Cliff Furr