Brookland-Cayce pulls out win over Airport in ‘a real sloppy game’

Airport had no trouble moving the ball against arch rival Brookland-Cayce Friday night.

Holding onto the ball proved less than easy for the Eagles.

Six turnovers killed Eagles drives, and the Bearcats closed out a 32-14 victory at Airport Stadium.

“It was a sloppy game, a real sloppy game,” Bearcats coach Rusty Charpia said. “We’ve never had a good half at this place in my entire career here. So I felt like if we could get through the first half with the game fairly close that we’d have a good chance to win.”

Four turnovers hurt the Eagles in the first half. Nanders Lawrence and Dwayne Lewis combined for more than 120 rushing yards in the first half, but two fumbles and two interceptions took their toll on drives.

After a scoreless first quarter, Brandon Caughman’s 6-yard TD pass to Izaiah Walker- Warren early in the second put the Eagles up 7-0.

Brookland Cayce got set up at midfield after a long kickoff return. Four plays later Jo Pradubsri skidded into the end zone from 8 yards out.

Paul Edwards picked off a Caughman pass and set up the Bearcats at the Airport 24-yard line. Four plays after that, Charpia ran in from 1 yard out with 4:45 to go in the first half.

A Nanders Lawrence score cut the Bearcats lead to 18-14 late in the third quarter. A Brookland-Cayce fumble had led to that TD, but the Bearcats played ball control in the fourth quarter.

Scores from Jo Pradubsri and Reed Charpia in that period snuffed out any chance of an Eagles rally.

“They did a good job of coaching and kept the game close,” Charpia said about the Eagles. “If they don’t turn the ball over, the score could have been a lot different.”

THREE THINGS WE LEARNED

1. Airport must do a better job holding on to ball. Turnovers hurt the Eagles.

2. The Bearcats had some turnover issues too. Early in the game, Brookland-Cayce tried to capitalize on a turnover on Airport’s opening possession, but fumbled the ball at the goal line.

3. Remove the turnovers and one can see how closely matched these rivals are. Brookland-Cayce had 304 total offensive yards; Airport had 310 total yards.

HOW THEY SCORED

2nd Quarter

A – Izaiah Walker-Warren 6 pass from Brandon Caughman (Haden Rimer kick) 11:26

B – Jo Pradubsri 8 run (kick failed) 9:58

B – Reed Charpia 1 run (pass failed) 4:45

3rd Quarter

B – Will Way 11 run (kick failed) 8:43

A – Lawrence 1 run (Rimer kick) :43

4th Quarter

B – Pradubsri 5 run (Caleb Hunnicut kick) 7:58

B – Charpia 15 run (Hunnicut kick) 1:24

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: W: Nanders Lawrence 13-96, Dwayne Lewis 17-112, Brandon Caughman 5- 16, Emari Malidor 2-11, Josh Goodman 2-10. B: Will Way 13-48, Jo Pradubsri 4-16, Tony Glenn 5-27, Keon Middleton 1-6, Reed Charpia 10-18.

Passing: W: Brandon Caughman 10-13-2-75. B: Reed Charpia 18-20-0-188

Receiving: W: Izaiah Walker-Warren 2-31, Dam LaFrage 1-10, Raquan Coles 1-3, Zach Roberts 4-23, Dwayne Lewis 1-8. B: Jo Pradubsri 8-68, Cam Morris 2-27, Will Way 3- 55, Malachi Brown 1-11, Latrell Jamison 2-15, Keon Middleton 1-8.

This story was originally published August 24, 2018 at 11:01 PM.