Brookwood hosts Valwood to start region play

Published 8:00 am Friday, September 22, 2017

THOMASVILLE — For the last few years, Brookwood football has been ever-so-close to downing one key region opponent, but to no avail.

Tonight, the Warriors will get another shot against the Valwood Valiants at Warrior Field, hoping to get their first win against them since 2010.

Brookwood certainly has some things to clean up after last week’s game against Westwood. It totaled four total turnovers and could not score in the first half. The Warriors’ defense kept them in the game until the second half, when they finally reached the end zone.

“I’m really pleased with the defense,” Brookwood coach Shane Boggs said. “We did some good things on special teams and had good offense in the second half. We just need to fix a bunch of mistakes. We had a few instances where we need to have a little better effort. We need to protect the ball better and we need to minimize penalties.”

The big improvement Brookwood wants to see on offense is its performance in the red zone. Last week, the Warriors were only able to get over the goal line once on three such opportunities.

“We drove the ball in the first half but didn’t always finish,” Boggs said. “It’ll be huge this week to make sure we capitalize on red zone opportunities.”

The Warriors have been very close to getting a win against the Valiants in the last two seasons. Valwood, last year’s GISA Region 3-3A champions, handed Brookwood a 27-23 loss in 2016 — its only regular season defeat. In 2015, Brookwood fell 17-14.

“I think it’s a great opportunity,” Boggs said. “We don’t have any pressure on us. Everyone expects Valwood to win. All the region games are huge because there’s not a lot of difference between the top and bottom of our region, but it’s huge because they’ve won a couple of state championships and region championships.”

Valwood has a couple of key players that Brookwood will have to deal with, with 2016 region player of the year Cam Walker leading the way. The cornerback and wide receiver has 208 yards receiving and eight total touchdowns. Quarterback Caleb Burns and running back Sam Martin will be other huge parts of Valwood’s offense.

Boggs says Valwood’s defensive line will be the deepest his team has gone against so far.

“Their team speed is really good,” Boggs said. “They’re a really physical football team. The big play was really the difference last year. They hit two big plays on us. They didn’t drive it so much all night. We got a couple of three-and-outs and forced a couple of turnovers.”

If tonight’s game is anything like the last two contests, Brookwood knows it’s in for a very close game where just one play could tilt the whole outcome.

“The fun thing about coaching and playing in this kind of game is it has literally been a one-play game the last two years,” Boggs said. “You never know where that play’s gonna come from. It could be anything. This is why we coach and this is why we play, for these big game opportunities.”