The Brookwood defense did not allow a point for the second straight game and Alexander Diggs provided the offense to help the Broncos defeat Newton 28-6 on Friday on Youth Night at Brookwood Community Stadium.
Brookwood (5-2, 1-0 Region 4-7A) was aggressive and quick to the point of attack all night. The Broncos came away with three sacks and seven tackles for loss. Newton (4-2, 1-1) got its only touchdown when Brookwood quarterback Dylan Lonergan fumbled at the 2 and Tahjae Mullix picked up and lunged into the end zone for a touchdown.
Otherwise the Broncos limited Newton to 106 yards rushing – with 47 of that coming on a pair of fake punt runs – and 26 yards passing.
“We’re playing at a real high level on defense right now,” Brookwood coach Philip Jones said. “Our defense, the first four games, did not play to our standard. But after the North Paulding game we really learned from our mistakes and tonight, effectively, that was a defensive shutout. They did not score on our defense.”
The Brookwood offense had its own troubles with Newton’s stout defense, but managed to control the tempo early and dictate the pace. The hard-running Diggs was at the center of the attack. He carried 10 times for 55 yards and two touchdowns and caught six passes for 74 yards and one touchdown.
“Alex brings everything,” Jones said. “He’s extremely high character, he’s a leader and challenges everyone to play to a higher level. Then he goes out and performs every Friday night to the standards that he sets.”
Lonergan completed 13 of 23 passes for 214 yards and one touchdown and ran for 64 yards and one touchdown. Stone Bonner caught three passes for 45 yards and Niles Prince caught two for 66 yards.
Newton’s versatile tailback Rontravious Perry ran 12 times for 90 yards and quarterback Jevarra Martin completed 8 of 15 passes for 26 yards, but was sacked three times and held to 2 yards on nine carries.
The Broncos scored their first points with 6:46 left in the first half. A 36-yard pass from Lonergan to Diggs set up an 8-yard touchdown run for Diggs. Brookwood went up 14-0 on a 14-yard pass from Lonergan to Diggs with 3:21 left in the half.
“Our offense probably plays best when it plays fast,” Jones said. “But as we settled into the game, we learned it was one of those games where they were likely going to struggle to move the ball on us. So it really needed to be more of a field-position game.”
Newton got its only points with 4:56 left on the fumble recovery, but the Broncos blocked the extra point to hold the score at 14-6.
Brookwood wasn’t able to answer with a touchdown, but punted the ball dead at the 1. Newton couldn’t move it and an ensuing 9-yard punt set the Broncos up at 15. On the first play, Diggs went for the score, dragging a pile of blockers and would-be tacklers with him into the end zone.
The Broncos finished the game with Lonergan scoring from the 1 with 14 seconds left.
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