Opportunistic defense puts Brookland-Cayce past Gilbert
Brookland-Cayce’s mistakes held it back for two quarters Monday night.
After that, it had Gilbert’s miscues to make things easier.
The Bearcats ended four consecutive Indians drives after halftime with interceptions, converting two into touchdowns. It provided more than enough breathing room in a 34-7 home Region 5-3A victory in a game moved because of weather.
Turnovers set up four of five touchdowns for the Bearcats (3-4, 1-1) and the other came after a missed field goal.
“That’s high school football at any level,” said Brookland-Cayce coach Rusty Charpia, whose team led 14-7 at halftime. “If you turn the ball over and you change the field direction and give them a short field, you typically get beat.”
His team committed 17 penalties for 141 yards, mostly in the first half. That allowed Gilbert (2-5, 0-2) to hang around despite an offense coach Barry Harley admitted is short on playmakers.
TURNING POINT
Gilbert’s missed 33-yard field goal on the first drive of the third quarter. The Bearcats scored touchdowns on their next three possessions.
KEY PERFORMERS
Charles Balkcom, RB Brookland-Cayce: The burly senior ran for 127 yards and a score and hauled in a 50-yard pass, breaking a tackle on the way to a touchdown.
Cam Brown, RB/DB Brookland-Cayce: He had only seven yards on six offensive touches, but he took an interception 59 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.
KEY NUMBERS
0: The number of passes Bearcats quarterback Kozie Brown had to throw in the second half as the defense and running game carried the load.
50 percent: How much of Gilbert’s offense was produced by wide receiver Malik Bright, all through the air.
THEY SAID IT
“No. 1, you can’t turn the football over and win football games. I thought our guys battled for about a half of football, and then the turnovers are indicative of our year.” – Barry Harley, Gilbert coach
“If it wasn’t for all the penalties, we might be undefeated. We’ve been in every single game against some very good teams. I don’t know how to stop the penalties.” – Rusty Charpia, Brookland-Cayce coach
HOW THEY SCORED
2nd Quarter
BC – Balkcom 2 run (Edwards kick), 7:59
BC – Balkcom 50 pass from K. Brown (Edwards kick), 5:49
G – Cook 2 run (Kilgore kick), 1:47
3rd Quarter
BC – Adams 5 run (Edwards kick), 4:56
BC – A.J. Brown 3 run (Kick blocked), 3:20
BC – Adams 59 interception return (Edwards kick), 1:56
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: G: Coleman-Scott 17-63, Cook 6-30, Digieso 2-(-2), TEAM 1-(-1), Thomas 5-(-6). Totals: 31-84; BC: Balkcom 14-127, A.J. Brown 10-28, TEAM 3-21, Adams 6-17, C. Brown 5-1, K. Brown 1-11, Byars 1-10, Lykes 1-6. Totals: 41-221
Passing: G: Thomas: 14-21-3-174, Digieso 2-5-1-31. Totals: 16-26-5-205. BC: K. Brown 8-14-0-165.
Receiving: G: Bright 7-145, Warren 3-36, Duncan 3-11, Baston 1-9, Swygert 1-4, Coleman-Scott 1-0. BC: Mills 4-91, Byars 2-18, Balkcom 1-50, C. Brown 1-6.
This story was originally published October 12, 2015 at 11:37 PM with the headline "Opportunistic defense puts Brookland-Cayce past Gilbert."