There was no punting required for the home standing Brookhaven Academy Cougars on Homecoming 2024 Friday night at R.M. “Red” Stuart Field.

The Cougars scored every time they touched the ball in the first half as they led 48-0 at halftime in an eventual 55-0 win over the visiting Salem Attendance Center Wildcats.

The matchup was the first time in program history for Brookhaven Academy to host an MHSAA opponent, as they began a series last year with the 1A Wildcats by playing them in Walthall County.

Salem, currently mired in a long losing streak that has passed 50 games, is under the direction of first year head coach William Frazier. Frazier is the fourth different coach to lead the program in the last four years as the Wildcats are one of the five smallest schools in the public school ranks to field a football team.

The BA defense forced a 3-and-out to start the game and wasted no time in getting the scoring bonanza started.

A 32-yard run by junior running back Walt Smith on the first offensive play for the Cougars set the tone. BA then got a 10-yard carry by sophomore Trace Garrett and a drive ending 5-yard touchdown run by Smith to put the Cougars up 7-0 following the PAT kick by sophomore Reeves Lindley.

When Salem formed up to punt on their next possession, first year Brookhaven Academy head coach Ryan Ross told junior Cooper Carr to go block the punt and that’s exactly what happened. Carr blocked the punt and recovered it on the Salem 23-yard line. Carr would also score the final BA touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter with a short run.

After going backwards on first down, Garrett took a handoff around the right side to score on a 30-yard jaunt that put the Cougars ahead 14-0 with 6:48 left in the first quarter.

The next BA drive took a little longer and covered a greater distance, but still ended with a Cougar touchdown via the ground.

Smith took a dive handoff from senior quarterback Braden Revere for a 21-yard touchdown run up the middle that capped a seven play, 75-yard drive.

Revere got in on the scoring in the second quarter. He faked a handoff to the outside and then pulled the ball back in to score on a 15-yard keeper. He later scored again in the quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run.

The non-district matchup next week for BA against Simpson Academy will be the final home game of the season for the Cougars. The senior class will be honored prior to kickoff.

Seniors on the first team for Ross at BA include Revere, Jon Mark Beasley, Austin Tanksley, Nathan Poole, CJ Chevralier, Asher Newman, Will Thomas Calcote, and Luke Simmons.

Revere looks comfortable running the split-back veer offense for the Cougars, as he’s grown in knowledge on a weekly basis in how to read the defenders up front. He’s lived up to the expectations Ross had for him as a leader in 2024.

“He’s going to do things right,” said Ross of Revere. “He’s going to keep his nose clean, he’s going to get his work done and he’s going to show up to practice every day and be ready. He’s a guy that leads by example for us.”

Also getting snaps this season for the Cougars at quarterback has been sophomore Will Newell. With 6:11 left before halftime, Newell flicked a quick throw out to the flats and Simmons raced down the sideline for a 43-yard touchdown that made the score 42-0.

The final Cougar touchdown of the first half came when Smith scored for a third time in the game to put BA up 48-0.

With a running clock in the second half, you knew possessions would be limited for both teams in the third and fourth quarter.

Brookhaven Academy came out in a shotgun formation and handed the ball off on play after play in the third quarter, with most of the carries going to Poole, as they possessed the ball for the entire 12 minutes of the third.

“That’s something we kind of drew up at halftime and we wanted to get the ball into the hands of some guys that maybe hadn’t gotten to carry the ball before,” said Ross. “I told Coach Frazier that we weren’t going to throw the ball after halftime, but we don’t have a lot of depth on our rosters, so a lot of the guys that played in the first half would have to be out there in some capacity in the second half too.”

Building depth moving forward is a big focus for Ross and his staff. The roster has already grown after the first week of action. Simmons, who’s previously only played baseball at Brookhaven High before transferring to BA this year, is one of those late additions to the roster.

Another is 6-foot-7 junior Madden Coleman, who lined up at defensive end in the second half and swatted down a Salem pass attempt on his first snap. Coleman also recovered a second half fumble.

“We’ve been fighting an injury bug lately and it definitely helps to have all the able bodies out there that we can get,” said Ross. “I let our team vote on adding anyone to the roster that hadn’t been through summer workouts, but they wanted those guys to be part of this. I can’t say enough about the effort and attitude shown by our seniors. They’ve carried themselves the right way every week.”

At halftime the returning reunion year classes were honored on the field, included in that group was the Class of 1994, which produced the first football state championship in school history.

The matchup with Salem was a welcomed respite for a BA team that has an otherwise loaded schedule. The Cougars (2-5) started the year with MAIS 4A title contender Wayne Academy and then played one of the most talent laden teams in the state in defending 6A champs Hartfield Academy.

In district play, they’ve lost 42-0 to Oak Forest. 21-0 to Adams County Christian School, and 24-21 last week at Cathedral School in a game that they led late.

“There has been improvement each week, sometimes more than others, but we play in a very tough district and the guys have really embraced the challenge of coming out every week and fighting for four quarters,” said Ross.

The victory over Salem was the first for Ross at home, as BA previously gifted him his first win with a road victory at Centreville Academy.

After the home matchup with Simpson Academy (3-3) next week, BA will close the season with three straight road games against Silliman Institute (4-2), Parklane Academy (5-2), and Amite School Center (0-6).

“If you’re going to build anything, you’ve got to start building from within, and I think that’s what we’re doing,” said Ross. “I think our junior high program is getting better each week too and I like the direction we’re headed. We’ve just got to keep working, because we’ve still got a lot of football left to play.”