Brookwood seniors Josh Verissimo and Dylan Lonergan added their names to the lore that surrounds the annual game with Gwinnett County rival Parkview on Friday.
Verissimo came up with the crucial defensive play and Lonergan threw three touchdowns to lead the Broncos to a 41-33 win at Parkview’s Big Orange Jungle. It was the third straight year Brookwood has beaten their biggest rival.
Verissimo’s big moment came early in the fourth quarter. The Broncos had taken a 27-19 lead on a 3-yard Jumal Prothro run, forced Parkview to punt and had driven the ball to midfield before Parkview caused a fumble that was recovered by the Panthers’ Justin Nunn.
The Panthers drove to the 13 and on third down quarterback Colin Houck was blitzed by the Brookwood front. He kept going backwards in an attempt to keep the play alive, but was final wrapped up by Myles Parker and Joseph Leslie and fumbled the ball while going to the turf. Verissimo jumped on the loose ball and raced 60 yards to the end zone for the touchdown.
“My teammates were able to go out there and make a great play on the quarterback and I saw the ball in front of me and a lawn in front of me,” Verissimo said. “I just thought scoop-and-score.”
The play was not without debate. The Parkview side insisted that Houck was down before the ball came out and coach Eric Godfree even sat down on the field to offer a visual interpretation and show his displeasure with the decision. The officials were unswayed and Godfree was flagged for a misconduct penalty, as boos rained down from the Parkview faithful.
“I don’t ever want to blame anything on officials,” Godfree said. You couldn’t have blamed him, though, as the Panthers were penalized for 168 yards.
Lonergan, who has committed to play baseball at Alabama, didn’t practice much all week because of the flu. He completed 8 of 15 passes for 161 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran 12 times for 56 yards and was sacked only once.
“I found a clip of the Michael Jordan Game 6 ‘flu game,’” Brookwood coach Philip Jones said. “I told him, ‘Tomorrow is going to be your flu game.’ Call me a prophet, call me lucky. I not going to forget this for a long time.”
After the deflating scoop-and-score, Parkview roared back to score on a Kyhair Spain’s 7-yard run, a drive set up by Houck’s 52-yard bomb to Zach Hill, and cut the lead to 34-26. The Panthers then executed an onside kick, with Jay Crawford recovering the ball. But the momentum fizzled out after the Panthers reached the 24 and missed a field goal.
Brookwood scored again on Lonergan’s 22-yard pass to Prothro, only to have Parkview answer with a Spain touchdown with 1:08 remaining. The Broncos weren’t able to rest until Parkview’s onside kick went awry and they were able to run out the clock.
“Our kids battled,” Godfree said. “They never think they’re out of a game.”
Parkview’s Houck completed 16 of 32 passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns. Spain ran 30 times for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Mike Matthews caught eight passes for 121 yards.
The game was part of the Great American Rivalry Series. Lonergan was chosen as the game’s MVP.
Brookwood (5-4, 3-1 Region 4-7A) guaranteed itself a spot in the state playoffs. Parkview (6-3, 2-2) has also made the playoffs, but will likely end up with the No. 4 seed.
“We’ve had an up and down season and getting this win was really good,” Lonergan said. “We got really, really together. Last week was a rough one (a loss to Grayson) but we knew we had to come together a little more and play much better – and we did.”
Brookwood scored on its first possession with speedy Bryce Dopson catching a pass from Lonergan in stride and racing for a 59-yard touchdown
Parkview moved the ball effectively on two drives but got waylaid by penalties and settled for field goals of 52 and 53 yards from Carlos Munoz to trim the lead to 7-6. Both extended his personal bests.
The Panthers took the lead after Spain scored on a 5-yard run to complete a 12-play drive, but the kick failed.
That score set off a wild final four minutes.
Brookwood’s Ian McGill scored on a 26-yard run, but Parkview answered with a 33-yard pass from Houck to Bryce Coulson. That was followed by a 22-yard pass from Lonergan to Evan Gober with 35 seconds left to give Brookwood a 20-19 lead at halftime.
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