Bon Voyage to Brookwood Senior Football Players

In nine seasons as football coach at , Mark Crews has had remarkable senior classes.

But perhaps none like this past fall's.

Twenty-six seniors, nearly half of the team's 58 players, were a primary reason the , backing their previous AAAA championship of 1996.

"We didn't necessarily have a bunch of stars, but we did a lot of things well," Crews said, referring largely to the seniors. You can make a bunch of good players into a great football team."

A handful stood out statistically, but Crews insists it was the leadership of all the seniors that propelled the Broncos to 14-1, and ultimately, a 52-38 championship victory over Colquitt County in the Georgia Dome. The crowning win vanquished championship losses to Gwinnett rival Parkview in 2002 and Lowndes County in '05. Importantly, it snatched back from South Georgia ownership of the state's largest classification, last in metro Atlanta when Peachtree Ridge tied with Roswell in 2006.

Crews said his seniors, even those who played little, provided intangibles that make teams successful.

"If you walk away and got everything out of a team you could, that's what important," he said. "Great leadership, great character kids... (We had) those kids who demand their teammates do right, act right and have some accountability to one another.

"They call those things intangible, but they're really not intangible at all," the coach added. "They call it chemistry or confidence, but those things really matter. It's hard to realize you have that until after that last game."

Five seniors signed football scholarships and another turned one down in favor of a baseball scholarship. But senior quarterback Ben McLane, who passed for 2,346 yards and 17 touchdowns, expects playing on scholarship at Georgia State to be unlike playing at Brookwood.

"You're still going to get that camaraderie of a team, but nothing like high school," he said. "In high school, you grew up with these guys and have known a lot of them your whole life.

"A lot of guys will never play football again, and it's their last hurrah," he added. "It creates a bond that can't necessarily be matched in college. Everyone who's felt that feeling knows it."

Brookwood's first-year kicker, Eric Yang, plans to walk on at Kentucky, after setting school records of 18 field goals and 67 extra points, then booting a 52-yard field goal in the senior all-star game. That's far from the former soccer player's initial impression of Broncos football, the season's 27-10 opening victory over Walton in the Corky Kell Classic at the Georgia Dome.

"I'd never even been to a Brookwood football game before that," Yang said. "I was afraid I wouldn't know what to do. (Football) was a totally different atmosphere than you get in soccer. It's a lot more people, a lot crazier."

Fullback Cameron Faulkner, who rushed for 190 yards and a touchdown, signed a scholarship with Bethel University, and Blake Fussell, a lineman alongside senior counterparts Elliott Graves and Lawson Hale, is going to Air Force. Andre Sims, who caught passes for 764 yards and six scores, is pledged to Michigan State, and linebacker Cameron Lynch, who had 188 tackles and 17 1/2 sacks, will play at Syracuse. Defensive end Reeves Blankenship and cornerback Juwan Ferris chipped in 79 and 64 tackles, respectively.

Broncos safety Nick Moore turned down a football offer to Air Force to ink a baseball scholarship at Kennesaw State. He said ending his football career was emotionally difficult, particularly after making nine interceptions, just one shy of David Loder's school-record 10 in 1996.

"Playing on Friday nights alongside my friends was great," he said. "Friday night football games are a special event at Brookwood."

A SAMPLE OF SENIOR TALENT

Position-- Player -- College plans -- Statistics

• QB Ben McLane--Signed scholarship to Georgia State--2,346 yards, 17 TDs passing
• FB Cameron Faulkner--Signed scholarship to Bethel University--190 yards, 1 TD rushing
• OT Blake Fussell--Signed scholarship to Air Force--Helped Broncos score a school-record 534 points
• OG Elliott Graves--Unknown college plans--Led Brookwood tie its winningest record
• C Lawson Hale--Unknown college plans--Facilitated 36 points a game, Gwinnett's fifth-most
• WR Nathaniel Minor--Unknown college plans--525 yards, 6 TDs receiving
• WR Andre Sims--Signed scholarship to Michigan State--764 yards, 6 TDs receiving
• K Eric Yang--Plans to walk on at Kentucky--18 field goals, 67 extra points, 124 points
• S Nick Moore--Signed a baseball scholarship to Kennesaw State--9 interceptions
• LB Cameron Lynch--Signed a scholarship to Syracuse--188 tackles, 17.5 sacks
• DE Reeves Blankenship--Unknown college plans--79 tackles
• CB Juwan Ferris--Unknown college plans--64 tackles