Vicksburg High players and coaches rush onto the field after beating No. 4 Brookhaven on Friday night. (Brian LodenThe Vicksburg Post)

[9/4/04]The first of Mississippi’s football titans fell to earth on Friday night, laid low by a hungry pack of Gators.

Vicksburg running back Chavous McWhorters had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs, the second in overtime, to help the Gators to a 19-13 upset of No. 4 Brookhaven at Memorial Stadium.

Vicksburg claimed its second straight overtime win against the Panthers it won in triple overtime last season at Brookhaven and handed the first loss this year to a team ranked in the Associated Press’ top 5. Brookhaven also was ranked No. 1 in the Clarion-Ledger poll.

The win was a stunning turnaround for Vicksburg, which made a number of mistakes in a 20-8 loss to Gulfport last week. Against Brookhaven, the Gators’ defense forced two turnovers including a 55-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Justin Wells and a drive-killing interception by Marcus Harris and stiffened whenever it was threatened.

“On the offensive side of the ball, it was a good turnaround. We still had minor mistakes which we could prevent. But the defense came through like they always do,” said VHS quarterback Eugene Morgan, who completed 5 of 13 passes for 70 yards.

Vicksburg marched down the field on the game’s opening drive, converting a fourth-and-9 from the Brookhaven 26 to set up McWhorters’ first TD run.

The Gator offense stalled after that, but the defense came up big time and time again. First, Raymond Reed blasted Brookhaven quarterback Brandt Hinton and forced a fumble that was picked up and returned for the score by Wells early in the second quarter to give VHS a 13-0 lead.

Brookhaven sent two more drives deep into Gator territory before the end of the first half, but both ended without a score. In the second half, the Panthers kept coming.

Ronnie McNulty, who finished with 156 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, danced through the line on the first play of the second half and sprinted nearly untouched for a 76-yard TD run.

The extra point was no good, however, and the score remained 13-6. It was one of several second-half blunders that came back to haunt the Panthers.

On Brookhaven’s next drive, the Panthers drove to the VHS 40-yard line before quarterback Jimmy Johns threw toward the end zone. Harris made a diving interception as he fell backward, snaring it at the 5-yard line to end the threat.

Later, after McNulty’s 11-yard TD run tied the game at 13-13 early in the fourth quarter, the Gators blew a coverage. Hinton was wide open on the right side, with no defenders within 30 yards of him, and Johns hit him in stride with a perfect pass. The ball clanged to the turf, however, and Brookhaven was eventually forced to punt.

“The lord was with us,” Harris said of the play.

The Panthers were hurt by 76 yards in penalties during the game, which negated nine drives that advanced into Gator territory. Brookhaven kicker Greg Walker also missed a 37-yard field goal with 4:37 to play that would have given the Panthers the lead.

“I’m going to look at the penalties. Obviously, it was a whole bunch for us,” Brookhaven coach Tucker Peavey said. “We still had chances to catch passes and score touchdowns, and we just didn’t do it.”

VHS got the ball first in overtime. Cordarryl Gleese took it to the Brookhaven 1 on first down, setting up McWhorters’ TD plunge on the next play. The extra point was blocked, leaving the score at 19-13.

That left the game, fittingly, in the defense’s hands. Johns was sacked on the first play, then threw two incompletions to set up fourth-and-goal from the 15. He threw to the right side of the end zone for Bud Chatman, but the pass was broken up.

“I knew we were going to stop them,” Harris said. “We knew they were going to go to (Chatman). We had it.”