| The News & Advance
11/20/99 If you just glanced at the score of the Brookville-Rustburg game, it might look as though the Bees easily handled the Red Devils. Looks can be deceiving. After a hard-fought defensive battle, Brookville eliminated Rustburg from the playoffs with a 17-0 win. With the victory, the Bees not only earned the Region III crown, but also a trip to Gate City next week in the first round of the Group AA Division 3 playoffs. "It was the type of contest that we thought it would be," said Brookville coach Bobby Johnson. "Rustburg's got a great football team and we told our guys that they would have to keep their composure. We knew it was going to be a battle." "17-0 was not indicative of the game, I don't think," said Rustburg coach Mike Scharnus. "We turned the ball over too many times, and Brookville didn't. That's why they won the ballgame." The game was a 3-0 struggle until just under four minutes to play when Brookville running back Dejon Kennedy took the handoff from quarterback Scott Nixon at the Red Devils' 10 yard line, put a spin-move on a Rustburg linebacker, and traipsed into the end zone for a 10-0 Brookville lead. Kennedy had another spectacular night rushing the ball for Brookville, as he finished the game with 127 yards on 32 carries. "Dejon is a daggone good runner," said Johnson, whose team improved to 9-3 with the win. "He's a hard runner. The thing that really helps him is the consistent play of the offensive line. We scored on one of the best defenses in the state tonight." Rustburg's star 1,000-yard rusher, Tony Jefferson, played with a lot of heart, but wasn't able to go at 100 percent, coming off of an injury that has sidelined him for the past two weeks. He finished the night with 13 yards on 12 carries while playing virtually fulltime on defense as well. "He wasn't at full speed," said Scharnus, whose team ended its season at 7-5. Turnovers played a key part in the struggles of the Red Devils. Rustburg had three lost fumbles and two interceptions in the game, and although Brookville was able to convert those five turnovers into only three points, those mistakes were certainly costly in field position - two of the fumbles came when the Red Devils were driving hard into Brookville territory. "We just couldn't do anything on offense," said Scharnus, who took his team to the state title game a year ago. "Five turnovers ... you can't do that." Coaches often talk about the three parts of a football game: offense, defense, and special teams. And although the Bees won the offensive and defensive battles, the play of their special teams hurt them a little. After a muffed punt set Brookville up at the Rustburg 11 yard line, the Bees were unable to move the ball on three plays, then place kicker Chris Cumberland had his 29-yard attempt blocked. Despite the fact that Rustburg wasn't able to move the ball efficiently on offense, its punting unit seemed to be consistently winning the field position battle as the rush applied to Brookville punter Bruce Rubinberg caused him to changed his regular punting routine. The result was six punts for a 21.5 average, including an eight-yard shank in the first quarter. "We asked Bruce to do something different this week," said Johnson. "(Rustburg) blocks punts, so we asked him to change to a one-step kick to get the kick off quicker and avoid the block. His kicks were not good for him, but he didn't get any blocked. "He did that for the team. That's the kind of kids we've got. It was a great team effort." Cumberland bounced back in the second quarter as he booted a 38-yarder right down the middle of the uprights with 8:07 left in the first half to put Brookville up 3-0. On the other side of the ball, Andrew Thompson had a good night kicking, registering five punts for a 39.2 average, although he also had a 49-yard field goal attempt blocked off of a bobbled hold just before the half that could have tied the game. "Our special teams played well," said Scharnus. "We had that one dropped punt, but other than that, we were okay on special teams." Jeremy Lassiter was the leading rusher for the Red Devils, picking up 38 yards on 11 carries, while quarterback Brandon Mills's favorite receiver on the night was Jeremy Neighbors. Neighbors finished with three receptions for 30 yards. For Brookville, Russell Lomax helped to exploit the inside of the Rustburg defensive line by exploding for a pair of big runs on his way to a 58-yard night on just five carries. Matt Burch, who scored the game's final touchdown on a three-yard run in the game's final minute, finished with 53 yards on 10 carries. "In the first half, they took away our fullback trap," said Johnson of Lomax's and Burch's success up the middle. "So our coaches figured they'd have trouble stopping just a straight fullback dive. I can't say enough about how good these coaches are. I think I have the best coaching staff in the state." Johnson and his staff will get the opportunity to match wits with Gate City, 30-0 winners over Tazewell. |