Brookwood Beats South Gwinnett 59-21 in Battle of Snellville

Jamaal Cole ran for two touchdowns and hauled in a scoring pass from Zach Moon, and the Broncos converted three fourth-quarter turnovers into scores as routed the visiting Comets 59-21 Friday in a battle of Snellville rivals.

Nick Tompkns scored on a 1-yard run on the Broncos' first possession to give Brookwood (4-2, 3-1 in Region 8-AAAAA) a 7-0 lead midway through the opening period. But the Comets' Traven Davis hauled in a 17-yard TD pass from Jordan Ramey on the following possession to knot the score at 7-7 with 28 seconds left in the first quarter.

But the Broncos took the ensuing kickoff and flew 76 yards downfield in just six plays, taking a 14-7 lead on a 17-yard TD run by Cole with 9:45 left in the half. Not to be outdone, Ramey led the Comets (1-5, 1-3) on an 82-yard drive and tied the game at 14-14 when he hit L.J. Gainey with a 14-yard scoring strike with just under five minutes left in the second quarter.

A 93-yard kickoff return by Cole was called back on a Brookwood penalty, but the Broncos instead covered 83 yards in seven plays, taking a 21-14 lead into the half when B.J. Sammon juggled and caught a 15-yard TD pass from Moon with 1:27 left in the period.

Brandon Morrow nailed a 44-yard field goal midway through the third quarter to put Brookwood ahead 24-14, then Moon hit a wide-open Michael Gouge for a 38-yard touchdown pass on the Broncos' next possession to give Brookwood a 31-14 lead going into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter saw an explosion of 35 points scored over the final 5:20. Brookwood capitalized on three South Gwinnett turnovers to blow the game open. Shaun McGee pounced on a Comet fumble at the Brookwood 35, and 11 plays later Cole caught a fourth-down, 7-yard touchdown pass from Moon to put Brookwood ahead 38-14.

The Broncos' defense then forced South Gwinnett to punt out of its own end zone, and on the next play, Cole exploded for a 38-yard TD run to give Brookwood a 45-14 lead with 4:04 left.

But South Gwinnett came roaring down the field, and a 22-yard Spencer Williams TD run with 2:01 left made it 45-21, Broncos. The Comets then recovered an onside kick, but Brookwood's D.J. Brown picked off Ramey and returned the interception 70 yards for a touchdown to make it a 52-21 lead. Ramey fumbled on first down after the kickoff, and two plays later, Josh Brown scored on a 17-yard run to close the scoring and a wild fourth quarter.

South Gwinnett will host Berkmar next week, while Brookwood will take a week off before traveling to Shiloh.