When Brookwood coach Philip Jones gathered the team together to hand out the game ball after Friday’s 34-0 win over Mountain View, the name he called out wasn’t that of a player. It was the name of defensive coordinator Chad Nighbert.
“We haven’t given out any game balls and we gave him the game ball for the first shutout as a Brookwood Bronco,” Jones said.
Nighbert had been the defensive coordinator at Colquitt County and has helped the unit overcome a rough opener against No. 1-ranked Collins Hill, when they allowed 36 points. Friday’s shutout was the first for the Broncos since a 54-0 win over Lakeside on Nov. 8, 2019.
“It was really a dominating performance and I’m really proud of how they played,” Jones said. “It wasn’t just the scheme, it was the effort, the physicality, the way we finished tackles. I’m really, really proud of how they played all night long.”
The Bronco defense had 10 tackles for loss and limited Mountain View to only 16 rushing yards and 130 passing yards. Mountain View quarterback Mason Kidd completed 15 of 26 passes, but was sacked seven times.
“We play an aggressive style and we’re going to get after your quarterback, especially against a team like that because you know they’re pass-first,” Jones said. “We felt it was a game where we could get aggressive and come after the quarterback.”
Brookwood stamped its impression on the game with two early touchdowns and extended the lead to 21-0 at halftime.
Senior Alexander Diggs scored on runs of 11 and 74 yards and caught a 15-yard touchdown pass on second effort. Meanwhile the Broncos held the Bears to 15 yards rushing and 49 yards passing in the first half.
Brookwood got a pair of second-half field goals from J.J. Silva (36 and 22 yards) got a late score on a 35-yard pass from Dylan Lonergan to Patrick Campbell.
Lonergan completed 22 of 33 passes for 329 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception – that from Eric Jones to prevent a touchdown. Lonergan ran for 73 yards. Diggs rushed 11 times for 101 yards and caught seven passes for 84 yards.
“Offensively we sputtered at times,” Jones said. “We didn’t play quite as clean and we didn’t protect Dylan that well or run the ball like we wanted to. But we found a way to generate points and we found a way to close the game out.”
Brookwood (4-2) will host Newton next week in the Region 4 opener. Mountain View (3-3) starts Region 6 competition at home against Mill Creek.
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