Almost by happenstance or kismet, I attended three different homecoming games this season where three different memorable state championship winning teams were recognized.

It’s been a reminder that state titles are the type of prize that don’t fade over time, in fact, their aura only grows brighter through the years. District or region championships are nice, but there is nothing like being the best of the best in the whole state.

The Class of 1994 at Brookhaven Academy walked onto R.M. “Red” Stuart Field last month to be recognized at the 30th anniversary of their high school graduation.

In the fall of their senior year, that class helped lead BA to the first football state championship in program history.

The whole senior class from the 1993 season wasn’t there, but there was a solid group in attendance that strolled onto the field at halftime, as the offensive line was well represented by Josh Smith, Dustin Smith, Tommy Crozier, and Dean Day among others.

There was a missed opportunity that night, as the group should have walked out to the sounds of George Thorogood and The Destroyers playing, “Bad to the Bone.”

Herbert Davis, an alum of the school, had blown into town that spring to take over after Copiah Academy hired the previous coach, Jay Swindle, in 1993.

Davis, who had already taken Winston Academy to a state title appearance in his first year as a head coach, filled the program with a youthful energy, taking over a team that had made its first ever playoff appearance a year prior.

The start was far from great as the team began the season with a 1-3 record. Somewhere along the way, the 1982 hit by Thorogood, one where the singer growls about his own toughness, became the rallying cry of the school and the football program.

The playoff run was a memorable one, with the Cougars beating Silliman Institute 6-0 in double overtime in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals of what was then called MPSA AA, Brookhaven Academy beat Amite School Center 19-10, revenge for a 24-8 loss suffered at ASC earlier in the season.

The championship game was played at Jackson Prep against Greenville Christian School. It came down to the final minutes, as GCS missed a long field goal that would have tied it, setting off a huge celebration by the Cougar fans that packed the visiting bleachers in Flowood.

Many wore milk-bone dog biscuits, hot glued with a safety pin on the back and a blue and white ribbon on the front while watching that 21-18 win for BA.

My mama made a pile of those at the kitchen table of our house. My brother had been on the 1992 team. She wore out a George Thorogood cassette, listening to it on a loop during that run to the state championship.

A week after that BA homecoming, I was in Monticello, sitting down during halftime as members of the 1999 MHSAA 4A state championship team walked out to midfield to recognize the passage of 25 years since their run to glory during their hoco halftime.

Those Lawrence County Cougars were perfect, going 14-0 and facing their toughest tests in a killer MHSAA District 6-4A, back when only the top two teams made the playoffs. South Pike went 9-2 that year and LC beat them 21-7.

The Cougars closest region battles were with McComb (7-6) and Brookhaven High (35-28) in the regular season finale. They cruised through the first three rounds of the playoffs against Mendenhall (42-3), Gautier (32-17), and Northeast Jones (39-0).

The whole town showed up to Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday, Dec. 3, 1999, to watch the Cougars take on Clarksdale. The game was tight throughout, but aided by a long interception touchdown return by Aaron Pitts just before half, the Cougars prevailed 21-14.

That LC squad had three future Division I players as its senior leaders in Pitts (Middle Tennessee), linebacker Ken Bournes (Ole Miss), and Lorenzo Townsend (Ole Miss).

Danny Adams, the head coach of that team, was back in Monticello for the homecoming game and reunion. He shares a special bond with current LC head coach Jesse Anderson, himself a senior star on that title team.

Adams embraced Anderson just before the Cougars hit the field after halftime. Encouraging his former player in a tight game against Sumrall. Even with the Cougars down, you could see how proud the old coach was of one of his guys, as Anderson is now in his seventh season as head coach at LC.

There was a similar hug between a former player and coach on Friday as Brookhaven High headed to the locker room at halftime of its homecoming, ahead 14-7 over visiting South Jones.

BHS head coach Tucker Peavey was not a happy camper. There is a certain way that Peavey has always had his teams exit the field at the end of the second quarter. They are to run to the north goal post, touch the padding, take a hard left and go right into the locker room.

With time ticking down to under 10 seconds, the mass of Panthers on the sideline had started moving prematurely towards that direction.

Brookhaven High had jumped out 14-0 but seemed to have taken their foot off the gas in the second quarter and for Peavey, it’s all about doing the small things correctly.

His team acting like halftime was here when there were still ticks left on the clock only soured his mood.

As serious as his face was, it broke into a big grin when former Brookhaven High quarterback Jimmy Johns stepped out to give Peavey a hug heading into the locker room.

Johns stood at the head of a large group of players from the 2004 MHSAA 4A state championship team as they gathered on the track, there to mark 20 years since the championship season.

When the championship winning alums hit the field, they were greeted with a loud ovation and you could tell those men, who were once boys on this same grass, reveled in the moment. Many held aloft cell phones, videoing themselves and their brothers in football, as they proudly carried the jerseys of three teammates who’ve passed away since 2004.

Peavey’s wife Leah Ann was there with her phone recording the moment too as Johns, Ronnie McNulty, Jesse Bowman and Bud Chatman stood among their teammates and former coaches, while their old head coach tended to his current team in the field house.

The lone loss for the Panthers that season was a 19-13 overtime setback at Vicksburg High. Those Panthers had to win five games in the postseason, and they cruised through the first two rounds, whipping Mendenhall (42-0) and South Jones (34-0).

The quarterfinal round had the Panthers hosting a previously unbeaten team from Wayne County. The 27-21 win for Brookhaven High in overtime is one of the great victories in program history. WC led 21-7 that night, but the Panthers refused to fold and fought back in front of a huge crowd.

Many still talk about the crucial catch Chatman made that night, turning in air to haul in a pass from Johns, launching himself upwards and backwards to make the grab.

Brookhaven High then beat West Jones in the semifinals and outlasted Clarksdale 29-23 in the 4A title game to finish the type of season that bears celebrating 20 years later.

The championship years, those are the ones that we keep talking about. Those are the ones we keep remembering in Brookhaven and Monticello. Those are the ones that we don’t ever want to forget.

When our teams were the best in the state.

Sports Editor Cliff Furr can be reached at sports@dailyleader.com.