| The News & Advance
11/12/99 ALTAVISTA - With a high-flying air assault and a punishing ground attack, the Gretna-Brookville Region III, Division 3 playoff game Friday night at Altavista High looked more like an Air Force-Army game. Chalk one up for the infantry. Brookville's Dejon Kennedy racked up 144 yards on the ground as the Bees advanced to the second round of the playoffs with a 29-12 win over the Gretna Hawks. The win means that the Bees will host Rustburg next week for the regional crown. Kennedy's effort was enough to offset the accomplishments of Gretna quarterback Carlos Vanhook, who had 221 yards passing, including two touchdowns. "At the half, we knew that we couldn't just let (Vanhook) stand back there and throw the football," said Brookville coach Bobby Johnson. "He's an excellent player." Vanhook was Mr. Everything for the Hawks, who had little sparkle elsewhere in the game. Although he finished with only six yards rushing, Vanhook lost many late in the game when the Hawks had to throw the ball and he was sacked several times for big losses. Also, he had a 70-yard run called back on a clipping call. Add that to the fact that he also returned kicks and punted for the Hawks (three punts for an average of 48 yards per kick), and images of Kellen Winslow's effort for the Chargers come to mind. In fact, it was Vanhook who connected with his favorite receiver, Shawn Miller, to start off the game's scoring. After Kennedy took a hard shot on the game's first play from scrimmage, the Gretna defense pounced on the fumble at the Brookville 34-yard line. After three failed plays, the Hawks found themselves with a fourth-and-13 from the 37, until Vanhook laid a high pass up for Miller, who out-jumped Brookville defensive back Levar Anthony for the ball, and Gretna led 6-0. On the ensuing drive, the momentum seemed to remain with the Hawks, as the Bees fumbled the kickoff, recovering it on their own 13, but some key mistakes helped keep the Brookville drive alive, with the most significant penalty being a roughing the kicker call on a fourth-and-eight play from the Bees' 29. Junior running back Russell Lomax made Gretna pay seven plays later when he went into the endzone from eight yards out to tie the score at 6-6. Chris Cumberland tacked on the extra point, and the Bees took a lead that they would never relinquish. Things went from bad to worse for the Hawks on the kickoff, as their returner fell down at the Gretna one-yard line. Two plays later, Vanhook was flagged for intentional grounding in the endzone, and Brookville led 9-6. After a nine-play, 44-yard drive that was capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Kennedy, the Bees looked like they were headed to a rout, scoring 16 unanswered points in less than five minutes of play. But Vanhook had other plans. After the kickoff, Gretna running back Alijuan Carter moved the ball out to the Hawks' 43 yard line with a two-yard run, before Vanhook found Miller again - this time for a 57-yard touchdown strike. Again the two-point conversion failed, and Gretna trailed Brookville 16-12. Miller finished the night with four catches for 104 yards. Looking to put the Hawks back on their heels, Brookville quarterback Scott Nixon led his team on a drive late in the half, that was highlighted by Martellus Braxton's spectacular diving catch in the front corner of the endzone with 15 seconds to play, giving the Bees a comfortable 23-12 lead at the half. At the half, both defenses seemed to make the correct adjustments as neither offense was able to sustain a drive and put some points on the board, although the Hawks did come close early in the third quarter, before a fourth-and-one effort at the Brookville 11 fell just short. And when Brookville needed their workhorse late in the game, Kennedy responded, helping set up Lomax's game-clinching score in the fourth quarter with runs of 23 and 10 yards on the Bees' final drive. Kennedy ended the game with 30 carries and a score, while Lomax had two scores on eight carries for 36 yards. Matt Burch was the second-leading rusher for Brookville with six carries for 43 yards, and although the field was obviously wet, Johnson said that it wasn't the water that was causing his backs to slip and fall on occasion through the night. "It was a little wet out here," said Johnson, whose team is now 8-3 on the year. "But mainly we kept slipping down because the (Gretna defenders) were running us all over the field." On the other side of the field, while Vanhook had the passing game going, the ground game was struggling. Gretna finished with just 46 yards rushing on 21 carries. The leading rusher for the Hawks was Carter, who had five carries for 22 yards. "I just thank God for the opportunity to coach at Gretna," said Gretna coach Robert Prunty, whose team finished the season with an 8-3 record. "They are a great bunch of kids." After losing last week and messing-up their shot at home-field advantage, Johnson said he was pleased that his team earned the home-field advantage for next week. "I'm happy about that home game," said Johnson. "We were disappointed we didn't win last week and secure that home-field advantage, but we didn't play our best football." Kickoff for the Rustburg-Brookville game is scheduled for 7:30. |