Bees sting Lancers with two big plays, stops

AMHERST — In a season opener with huge implications in the Seminole District race, Brookville proved it could win a big game in a hostile environment, Friday night at Amherst.

The monumental clash of district titans played before a near-capacity crowd at Lancers Stadium had plenty of plot twists and momentum swings, with seven turnovers between the two teams.

Ultimately, the Bees’ 24-21 triumph, which ended two-time defending Group AA, Division 4, state champion Amherst’s 26-game winning streak and spoiled coach Cecil Phillips’ debut, pivoted on two big plays and two fourth-quarter, fourth-down defensive stops.

With Amherst leading 14-7 in the final 30 seconds of the first half, Lancers outside linebacker Anthony Rose intercepted a pass from Brookville quarterback Logan Thomas and returned it to the Bees’ 30. But on the very next play, Brookville defensive end Zack McCray picked up a fumble by Rose on a broken option play, the second of his two fumble recoveries. He followed two key blocks and outsprinted a couple speedy backs for a 70-yard touchdown return.

“I did what I could to pick the team up,” said McCray who also caught two passes from Thomas for 29 yards. “I got great blocking and God blessed me with the way the ball came to me. (Rose) was trying to pull the ball and it just fell out and it happened to bounce right to me. I picked it up, I had a few blockers from Logan (Thomas) and Michael Leeman and then I had to outrun the rest of them.”

Dylan Tordoff’s extra-point tied the game at 14 before Tordoff tackled Mario Vaughan beyond midfield on the ensuing kickoff return as the first half expired.

On the second play of the second half, Bees freshman tackle Victor Montalbano recovered a fumble by Vaughan at the Lancers’ 24 and Tordoff put Brookville on top 17-14 with his 34-yard field goal four plays later. 

Amherst reclaimed the lead on the third play of the fourth quarter after A.J. Parrish converted a fourth-and-1 down to the Bees’ 10-yard-line on the first play of the period and Vaughan ducked into the end zone for his second 4-yard TD.

But Brookville responded with another 70-yard score, a perfectly executed reverse to Lorenzo Smith, on its next play from scrimmage to move in front to stay.

Bees tailback Stacey Houston, who was held to 15 yards on 11 carries for the night, took the handoff from Thomas and swept left before pitching it back to Smith. He reversed his field and followed a lead block by Thomas before cutting back to the inside and darting to the end zone for the game-winning TD.

“If you watch Brookville football, you know something tricky’s going to come,” Bees coach Jeff Woody said. “As fast as their defense was stunting the ball, and they were blitzing those guys on a regular basis, we thought that a misdirection, like a reverse, to the fastest kid that we’ve got on the team, why not? And it worked. They flew to the football and they’re good at that. That’s why they’re so successful on defense. You throw that reverse in there and nobody’s at home, then that’s what happened.”

Amherst, operating out of its new Wing-T offense, consumed eight and a half minutes on its next drive. It converted two key fourth downs before Parrish came up short on a third, facing fourth-and-2 at Brookville’s 13-yard line.

Phillips could have opted to go for a tie with 30-yard field goal, relying on freshman placekicker Tyler Dawson who made all three of his extra-point tries. Instead, he went for the lead with less than two minutes to go.

“We’ve got eight offensive linemen returning that have started last year,” he said. “That’s the strength of our football team and we felt we had the momentum going and we decided to make that call in hopes of converting a first down and punch it in the end zone and end the game right there.”

But Parrish, filling in for Jamar Glover and Vaughan, who were experiencing leg cramps, was stuffed up the middle. After forcing Brookville to punt the ball back with 1:14 to play, Rose’s fourth-down pass from the Bees’ 30 intended for Taylor Grubbs was tipped by defensive back Jay Graham and intercepted by Thomas to squelch the final threat.

“Everybody’s been doubting our defense and we finally stepped up and showed everybody that our defense can play a little bit,” McCray said. “They can’t take us lightly anymore.”