Brantley, McKenzie battle for No. 2 seed

Published 8:24 am Thursday, October 20, 2016

“The best part of the night was getting to see a lot of the young guys and some older guys who don’t get to play a lot get in the game,” said Brantley High School Head Coach Ashley Kilcrease.

“That’s always fun to me, because everybody works hard and you can’t play every one of them all of the time. So, that was a positive, I would say.”

In a shutout game against Florala last Friday, the Bulldogs trampled the Wildcats with a final score of 57-0.

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Kicking off the first quarter, junior wide receiver D’Andre Sinclair brought in a touchdown with a 52-yard pass from senior quarterback Jacob Free; an extra point attempt by senior defensive end Tucker Owens was no good, which brought the score up to 6-0.

Following closely behind with a 44-yard touchdown run was junior running back Mack Wise; an extra point attempt by Owens was no good, which brought the score up to 12-0 for the Bulldogs.

A 74-yard pass from Free to senior wide receiver Tommy Spivey and a 41-yard pass from Free to junior wide receiver Adrian Person, Jr. and no extra points earned brought the Bulldogs to 24-0 going into the second quarter.

Wise began the second quarter with a 48-yard touchdown run and no extra point earned.

Sophomore running back Tyler Booker completed a 6-yard run, and an extra point was earned with a kick by junior tight end Nathan Renfroe, bringing the score up to 37-0.

A 21-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Jake Kilcrease to junior wide receiver Edge Branum and an extra point kicked by Renfroe helped the Bulldogs finish off the second quarter ahead at 44-0.

Charging into the third quarter, sophomore wide receiver Parker Driggers brought in another touchdown, and an extra point was earned with a kick by Renfroe.

The last touchdown of the game came from Sinclair on an interception return, which ended the game at 57-0.

“McKenzie is a very good football team all the way around, but in my opinion their biggest threat is their running back. He is very quick and good runner,” Free said.

“I just have faith in our guys. I know how we can play as a team and as a whole, and we are going to play our hearts out. We just have to have a good week of practice this week and stay healthy and have our minds right.”

This game, Kilcrease says, will determine the No. 2 seed as well as which team will host its first playoff game.

“This is a big game. They have a really good running back, Chris Shufford. He is very elusive, a four-year starter for them and is a really good football player,” Kilcrease said.

“Having to contain him, that’s the big challenge that we face. We’ve won against them, but it hasn’t been easy. I expect a great atmosphere and a great game, but there’s a lo9t at stake.”

The Bulldogs are currently 5-3 for the season as they head into their brawl with the McKenzie Tigers. The Bulldogs and Tigers will square off in Brantley Friday night at 7 p.m.