Brookwood Emerges from Wild Finish to Beat Rival Parkview 23-19

Brookwood's Nick Tompkins returned a 75-yard kickoff with only 15 seconds left on the clock as the Broncos beat 23-19 Friday night in a wild renewal of one of the state's fiercest rivalry.

Thompkins' return was one of four touchdowns the teams combined to score in the final couple of minutes in one of the wilder finishes in the history of the so-called . It was the 30th meeting between the neighboring schools and no doubt as exciting as any other in the series.

“I’ve never seen anything like this," Parkview’s Head Coach said. "It’s the craziest game we’ve ever played.”

“All I can say is wow about this one,” said Brookwood Head Coach . “We’ll just wipe our brows and hopefully we can use the momentum from a big win like that.”

All the excitement and big plays were saved for the final minutes of a wild fourth quarter with Brookwood leading 10-6 after three quarters.

With a little over two minutes left Parkview pulled off its first miracle of the fourth quarter. Panthers quarterback Jack Esmonde connected with Jordan Reid on a third-and-31 for an 81-yard touchdown pass. Zack Kammer put in the extra point attempt to put Parkview ahead 13-10.

The Panthers may have thought they had won the game with a touchdown so late in the game. But Broncos quarterback Zach Moon, who had been intercepted by Keanu Mole earlier in the quarter, moved the ball with an 8-yard pass followed by an 8-yard run. He finished the drive with 1:30 left in the game with a 44-yard touchdown pass to B.J. Sammon. Morrow put in the extra point to make it 17-13.

Now it was time for the Broncos to believe they had won the game.

Parkview’s Rob Youngblood quickly ruined that feeling with a big kickoff return to the 50-yard line. Quarterback Esmonde connected with running back Chris Carson twice on the drive. He then followed it up with another big throw to Reid, who bobbled the ball, then pulled it in just as he was tackled in the end zone. The 33-yard touchdown put Parkview ahead 19-13 after Kammer’s extra point was blocked.

With only 39 seconds on the clock, Tompkins provided victory for his Broncos, capping the improbable finish. Tompkins received the kickoff, went to his right, broke a few tackles, ran to the left, found a hole and broke free to make is his way all the way to the end zone.

“I just tried to find a hole and I saw one and just kept on going,” said Tompkins, who also finished with 73 rushing yards. "It’s just amazing. It feels great to have won this game and to be named MVP.”

Parkview had the ball with 15 seconds left but Brookwood’s Cole finished off the game by intercepting Esmonde in the dying seconds.

It could have easily been Parkview receiver Reid claiming MVP rather than Tompkins if Parkview had pulled off the win. “The game is never over,” said a clearly disappointed Reid.

“We need to learn how to finish,” continued Reid. “I think we relaxed and got lackadaisical after those two big plays.”

Both Parkview and Brookwood showed composure by effectively responding to adversity and big plays by the other team.

“We could have griped and complained about that third-and-31 touchdown, but I told them we just have to get back to business,” Crews said. “We practice that two-minute offense. We snapped out of it and these kids did what we coached them to do.”

“The kids played hard, we just stubbed our toe,” said Flowe. “Esmonde made some good calls there with those passes to Reid.”

The first three quarters were just a warm-up for the last three minutes of the game. Brookwood scored first with a 39-yard field goal in the dying minutes of the first quarter.

Parkview responded with a 70-yard march down the field resulting in Carson’s 17-yard touchdown run. Carson broke a tackle and ran to the end zone thanks to a pivotal block by Mac Marshall.

Parkview went into the half up 6-3.

The third quarter featured a running duel between Parkview’s Carson and Brookwood’s Jamaal Cole and Tompkins. Brookwood’s D.J. Brown ended a 53-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown to give Brookwood a 9-6 lead. Brandon Morrow successfully attempted the extra point to make it 10-6 Brookwood.

But in the end, the wild fourth quarter roller-coaster of highs and lows gave Brookwood the win, improving the Broncos' record to 6-2 overall, 5-1 in Region 8-AAAAA. Parkview fell to 4-4, 4-2.

Download the movie