Senior quarterback Drexler Johnson didn’t’ let a torn ACL stophim from providing some second half heroics. Johnson sparked theWayne County War Eagles to a 30-17 comeback victory over theBrookhaven Panthers Friday night on King Field. Brookhaven hadtaken a 17-6 halftime lead in the Class 4A second round stateplayoff game, witnessed by a crowd estimated at 4,000.

Wayne County (12-0) advances to the third round of the playoffsand hosts Picayune (12-0) Friday night. The Panthers end theirseason at 7-5.

“We were down at halftime,” said Johnson. “I told the team tokeep their heads up. My knee was sore but it didn’t affect me. Ijust had to suck it up and play.”

Johnson completed 6 of 10 passes for 71 yards and 1 TD, piercingthe Panthers’ secondary with pin-point accuracy.

Johnson, wearing a bright orange knee brace on his left leg tosupport a torn ACL, directed the Eagles on a 47-yard scoring driveon his team’s second possession of the second half. The drive wasignited by Tracy Lampley’s 27-yard punt return.

On fourth down, at Brookhaven’s 4-yard line, Johnson threw adart between two Panther defenders and Trey Whigham caught the passfor the TD.

Johnson threw another strike to Lampley for the 2-pointconversion, reducing Brook’s lead to 17-14 with 5:06 left in thethird quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Eagles drove 59 yards in 8plays for the go-ahead touchdown. Sophomore quarterback CalvinMcDougle circled left end from 5 yards out for the TD. One playearlier, Johnson had scrambled 12 yards to the Brookhaven 5-yardline after completing a first down pass of 13 yards to Whigham.

Trey McRae’s PAT kick was good and the Eagles led 21-17 with9:54 left to play.

Lampley provided the clincher when he broke through the line andraced 83 yards to paydirt, pushing the Eagles ahead 28-17 with 6:18remaining. Lampley finished with 14 carries for 190 yards.

“Our team has a lot of character,” said Wayne County coachMarcus Boyles. “Brookhaven dominated the first half on offense anddefense. Everything was going their way.

“We told our kids to keep fighting hard,” said Boyles. “I toldthem that Brookhaven had been down 21-7 with 6 minutes left to playtwo years ago and come back and won.

“Drexler wanted to play,” said Boyles. “He had a greatperformance. His knee had been swollen all week so he didn’tpractice.”

Encouraged by a large home crowd dressed in red, the Panthersmarched 66-yards to paydirt on the game-opening series. Runningback Charles Wilson capped the 12-play drive with a 1-yard sweep,following an escort of blockers around left end. Will Thibodeauxkicked the extra point.

The Eagles got moving early in the second quarter, going 51yards in 5 plays. McDougle rolled to his right and hit Marquese Raywith a 13-yard strike. The PAT kick was wide and the Eagles trailed7-6.

The Panthers padded their lead with a 65-yard scoring drive.Quarterback Charles (Bobo) Rancifer rolled out of the pocket andpassed 32 yards to Marcus Smith for the TD. Brook led 14-6 with 54seconds left in the first half.

Good fortune continued smiling on the Panthers when the Eaglesfumbled the kickoff at their 26-yard line. Thibodeaux drilled a38-yard field goal as time expired, pushing the Panthers ahead17-6.

“Our kids played hard and gave a great effort,” said BHS coachTucker Peavey. “We never could establish a running game and thatmade us one-dimensional.

“Wayne County pinned their ears back and came after us. They area top-ranked team. We ran out of gas in the second half.”

Peavey’s Panthers managed 102 yards rushing and 137 yardspassing.

Rancifer completed 9 of 25 passes for 137 yards. Late in thefourth quarter he was sacked and fumbled in the end zone. Thefootball rolled out of bounds and the Eagles picked up asafety.