All-Out War Between Rivals Brookwood and Parkview This Friday

The annual Brookwood-Parkview showdown is always a big game, but this week’s meeting in Lilburn will be as big a game between the two rivals as it’s been in a number of seasons.

The winner of the 7:30 p.m. Friday game in Parkview’s Big Orange Jungle will be considered to be the front-runner in Region 8-AAAAAA.

A Parkview win, combined with its big wins over Grayson and Archer, would give the 10th-ranked Panthers (3-1, 2-0) wins over three of the region’s four playoff teams from 2011. The fourth playoff team, Dacula, has struggled to an 0-4 start so far.

Brookwood, idle this week, enters the game 2-1, 1-0 and with a three-game winning streak over Parkview.

The last time Parkview beat Brookwood (7-0 in 2008) was also the last season the Parkview Panthers had a winning record, 7-4.

Not only do the two schools compete in football, they also compete to see who can collect the most canned goods in the days leading up to the game. Last year, the schools collected nearly 10,000 cans for the Gwinnett Cooperative Ministry, a food bank located in Grayson.

Sponsored by Holtkamp Heating and Air, the organization said that the competition collected more cans than any other single event.

Top players to watch on Friday are Brookwood's Shaun McGee, defensive end and Touchdown Club of Atlanta's lineman of the week for his performance at the Archer game, and Adam Ledford, the senior offensive lineman who has started for the Broncos since he was a sophomore. He has played Brookwood football since the age of six.