THOMASVILLE — After a record shattering win over Deerfield-Windsor, the Brookwood Warriors played it a little closer with Southland Academy. It was a hard fought and physical game for the Warriors.

Brookwood started the game off with a lengthy drive that chewed up a lot of clock. The Warriors were still moving the ball on their first drive of the game with 6:20 left in the first quarter and were threatening to score. However, they failed to convert on fourth down and turned it over on downs. That’s when Southland’s big men went to work.

A hard nosed running back behind a massive offensive line is a dangerous combination and the Raiders showed why as in the first two plays of their first drive Southland was past midfield. Despite having a solid passing game, Southland only passed the ball twice in the first quarter. They leaned on the run game, which was working until Brookwood’s defense decided to step up. A hard hit jarred the ball free and Rex Schofill scooped it up and took it 70 yards for the first Warriors first touchdown of the game.

The Raiders responded, continuing to lean on the run, and punched it in from the three yard line, tying the game at seven. The Warriors and Raiders would trade turnovers as Brookwood turned the ball over on an errant pass that was ruled a fumble. Just a few plays later, the Warriors’ Oskar Thompson came up with a phenomenal interception that gave Brookwood solid field position with two minutes left in the half.

Brookwood, led by star QB Rodge Waldrop, drove downfield, executing an efficient pass attack that was finished on a scramble throw from Waldrop to freshman Seth Boggs with just 37 seconds left in the half. Southland blocked the PAT and the Warriors took a 13-7 lead into halftime.

The Raiders got into a rhythm quickly as they were threatening to score straight out of halftime, now leaning more toward the pass. Southland scored on an impressive run play, but a holding penalty, something that would continue to plague them, brought the touchdown back. Several more penalties later, Southland found themselves on second and goal from the 27 yard line. Southland continued to fire into the end zone, but Brookwood’s secondary stepped up in the red zone just like it did all night, breaking up two potential touchdowns.

Southland turned the ball over on downs and Waldrop went to work. Brookwood marched downfield, where Waldrop hit TJ Thomas over the middle for the touchdown. A three yard run from Waldrop would give the Warriors the two point conversion and a 21-7 lead.

Though the Warriors struggled to stop Southland from entering the red zone, once they were there, Brookwood’s defense stood tall.

“We kind of wanted to play the game with a fourth and one mentality and I felt like when they got down there close it wasn’t always fourth and one, but we really did tighten up,” said Warriors head coach Shane Boggs. “That’s what it’s all about, keeping them out of the end zone.”

The game began to slow down after Brookwood’s last touchdown. Both teams had several chances to score and Warriors fans were put on edge after Waldrop left the game with an apparent injury. He did return, however, just two plays later. With just under a minute left the Warriors would assume the victory formation and run out the clock as they celebrated a 21-7 win on homecoming night.

Boggs credited the win to the Warriors defense, who had a true bounce back performance after giving up 56 points to Deerfield-Windsor.

“Honestly, the defense just did so well in the second half. Obviously, offensively we’d like to be better, we need to be better, and we will be better,” Boggs said. “But, it’s exciting for our team to really make all of those strides on defense. I thought we grew tonight as a team.”

Brookwood’s offense does need some work, mostly on consistency. Obviously, Waldrop and the receiving core won’t break state records every game and the offense did look very good at times. On paper it looks like an excellent offensive game for the Warriors with Waldrop completing 20 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns. But, the rushing attack struggled. They had just 65 yards on 23 attempts and had a hard time breaking through Southland’s very physical d-line. This team has state title potential written all over it, they just need all three phases to come together at the same time.