Eagles batter Brookhaven|[11/17/06]

Published 12:00 am Friday, November 17, 2006

BROOKHAVEN – After watching Price Sessums run for more than 200 yards against them in the first half Thursday night, Porters Chapel’s defense didn’t panic, change its gameplan or even move people around.

Its players simply decided they were sick of it, and did something about it.

PCA held Sessums, Brookhaven Academy’s outstanding senior quarterback, to 66 rushing yards in the second half – after he had 201 yards and two scores in the first – and shut out the Cougars over the final two periods to earn a 33-21 victory in the second round of the Academy-AA playoffs.

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Brookhaven had just 61 yards as a team in the second half, turned it over twice and gained only three first downs. Sessums finished with 267 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.

&#8220Our athletes just started making plays in the second half,” PCA coach Randy Wright said. &#8220We bottled him up pretty good in the second half. We’ve got some good senior leadership and they made up their mind that our season wasn’t going to end here tonight.”

The win sends PCA into next Friday’s MPSA Class AA South State championship game at home against Copiah Academy. It’s the second straight year PCA has hosted a state semifinal game.

PCA heads into the game having won six straight. It has scored at least 30 points in each of those wins.

&#8220We’re on a roll right now. We just have to keep it up through South State and on to state,” said PCA quarterback Hayden Hales, who completed 11 of 21 passes for 225 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed 26 times for 128 yards.

Two of Hales’ touchdown passes went to senior wide receiver Cole Smith, who caught six balls for 168 yards. Michael Busby also had one touchdown rushing and one receiving.

The teams combined for more than 500 yards of offense in the first half and 33 points in the second quarter, and capped things off by trading three scores in the last 90 seconds.

Hales finished a 10-play drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Smith that cut Brookhaven’s lead to 14-13 with 1:30 to play in the second quarter. Busby’s extra point was no good, and Sessums went to work.

The 5-foot-9 senior returned the ensuing kickoff 23 yards to the Brookhaven 28, then broke a 42-yard run into PCA territory. He capped a quick 58-second drive with a 17-yard TD pass to Ty Smith to restore the Cougars’ lead to 21-13.

Hales still had 21 seconds to work with, though. And with a little help from the Cougars, it was enough.

After a defensive holding call gave PCA a first down at its own 31 with 11 seconds left, Hales was intercepted by linebacker Kolby Byrd on the next play. Byrd returned the ball to the 10-yard line as time expired, but Brookhaven was called for roughing the passer on the play. The penalty moved the ball to the 46-yard line and gave the Eagles one untimed down before halftime.

Hales made the most of it, hitting a streaking Smith along the left sideline. Smith outran a cornerback, then shook off a hit from Sessums as he crossed the goal line for a 54-yard touchdown.

A 2-point conversion pass was no good and left the score at 21-19, but the swing from demoralizing interception to unlikely touchdown clearly shifted momentum the Eagles’ way.

&#8220It swung it a little bit, you could tell,” Brookhaven coach Bo Milton said. &#8220But we were still in the ballgame and still had the lead. Then we never could change the field position in the second half.”

Each team punted on its first possession of the third quarter, but PCA’s offense woke up on its second try. Brookhaven’s never did.

Hales’ 23-yard TD pass to Robbie Simms with 5:42 left in the third quarter gave PCA its first lead of the game, 27-21, and Hales added a 9-yard TD toss to Busby five minutes later to stretch it to 33-21.

Flustered by a rejuvenated Eagles’ defense and forced to pass, Sessums couldn’t keep up. He only had two runs longer than 10 yards in the second half – after having five in the first – and was 0-for-13 passing, with two interceptions.

Neither interception led to points for PCA. Busby missed field goals of 40 and 46 yards on the ensuing drives. But the turnovers did allow the Eagles to bleed precious time off the clock that killed any thought of a Brookhaven comeback. PCA held the ball for 10 minutes and 4 seconds in the fourth quarter.

Milton, who only called two passes in the first half, said his shift in tactics had as much to do with PCA’s defense as it was the Cougars falling behind. &#8220They took a lot of it away from us,” he said. &#8220I give them credit for that.”