Brookhaven High School smoothly took care of business on Friday at home in the MHSAA 5A quarterfinals with a 33-7 victory against Stone High.

Next up is a trip to play at Gautier High on Friday in the 5A South State Championship. The winner will advance to play the following week in Hattiesburg for the 5A state title.

As has been the formula all season, the Panther defense was lights out, the team created some nice breaks via special teams, and the ground game wore down the opposing defense to make BHS 11-1 on the year. The Stone Tomcats end the 2024 season with a 6-6 record.

The first score of the game came via a safety when a shotgun snap for Stone went awry on its opening possession. The Tomcats were backed up after BHS punter Dreamus Harron Jr. had his kick downed at the SHS 7-yard line following the first Ole Brook drive.

The momentum for BHS continued the possession following the safety, as the Panthers moved quickly down the field and went ahead 9-0 following a short touchdown run by junior back Caiden Quarles.

The Ole Brook defense, averaging over three turnovers created per game, then kept the King Field cheering with an interception by senior defensive back Rameriaze Edwards. Edwards, who got banged up in the regular season finale at Natchez, rested up last week in the opening round against Vancleave and the interception was his team leading sixth of the season.

Brookhaven scored off the turnover when sophomore kicker Isaac Iles put one just over the crossbar from 37-yards to put the Panthers ahead 12-0.

The halftime lead was 19-0 as Brookhaven got its final score of the first half when Allen scored a 35-yard rushing touchdown.

There wasn’t a player on the Stone roster that could run Allen down from behind. He had 89 yards rushing in the first half and ended with over 100 yards on the ground as did Quarles, who came into the game with over 1,200 yards on the year and 15 touchdowns scored.

Stone had negative six yards of offense in the first two quarters, as SHS quarterback Zander Howard tooks some big hits dished out by Ole Brook defenders.

The lead was padded to 26-0 in the third quarter when Allen scrambled long enough to find junior tight end Kemarjae Lee for a touchdown, the second time the pair have connected for a score this season.

Quarles scored a fourth quarter touchdown and Stone got on the board in the fourth quarter against a group of substitutes for the BHS defense.

“Defensively, we were really good all night,” said BHS head coach Tucker Peavey. “Offensively, we had some penalties early that slowed us down, but we got it going later. We played hard on defense and got after them and Jaden did a good job of extending some plays to pick up yards for the offense.”

With BHS controlling the flow of the action throughout the game, the attention of everyone in the stands, press box and concession stand turned to watching the Gautier High and Wayne County score.

The Gautier Gators whipped the Wayne County War Eagles 31-8 when the region foes clashed earlier this season, but WC has been hot of late, beating Laurel and Vancleave to close the regular season and then upsetting South Jones on the road to open the postseason.

The Ole Brook faithful were cheering for Wayne County, as a win by the War Eagles would mean another home game next week for Brookhaven High.

Wayne County gave everyone hope, leading early before ultimately losing 28-27 when the War Eagles went for a 2-point conversion and the win late in the game.

Once it became clear that Brookhaven High was the top team in its region, Panther fans have kept check on Gautier throughout the year, as both teams are now 11-1. The lone loss for BHS this season came to Northwest Rankin while Gautier suffered its defeat to D’Iberville.

It’ll be about a three-hour trip on Black Friday for the Ole Brook faithful to Vaughn-Wallace Stadium on the campus of Gautier High, located between Ocean Springs and Pascagoula in Jackson County.

The last meeting between Gautier and Brookhaven High was a 20-13 win for the Gators in the 2000 4A first round.

The 5A North Championship will be a matchup between the 5A power West Point (9-3) and unbeaten Cleveland Central (12-0). WP, the defending champs and winners of 12 state titles, defeated Holmes County Central 31-28 on Friday.

Cleveland Central, created in 2017 via the consolidation of Eastside High and Cleveland High, kept its record unblemished with a 27-26 win over Canton High.

The semifinal appearance for BHS is the deepest postseason run for the program since 2010. Kickoff at Gautier is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 29.