Brookwood defeats Walton

By Jay Stone

For the AJC

Brookwood seemed poised to unleash its passing game in the Corky Kell Classic, but the Broncos went back to their rushing roots and pulled away in the second half for a 27-10 victory over Walton on Saturday.

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Jason Getz, jgetz@ajc.com Brookwood's Nick Tompkins (32) makes a move on Walton's Daron Blaylock (8) for a long run in the first half of their game during the 2010 Corky Kell Classic Saturday afternoon in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 21, 2010.

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Nick Tompkins rushed for 123 yards, 110 in the first half, and sophomore Jamaal Cole added 118 in his first varsity game, including a 49-yard touchdown sprint in the third quarter that put the Broncos up for good.

“Not a lot of people knew about our running backs,” said Tomkins, a junior whose 29-yard run on Brookwood’s first possession set up an Eric Yang field goal. “I thought we could come out and put up big yards.”

The Broncos, who snapped a string of four consecutive losses in the annual season opener at the Georgia Dome, overcame a mistake-filled second quarter. They had a stretch of four penalties in six snaps, negating a pair of big plays that might have put them in position to pull away earlier.

“We’ve got to work to eliminate those things,” said Brookwood coach Mark Crews, “and if we can, we have some guys who can make plays. It’s a lot better trying to correct those things coming off a win.”

With the game tied at 10 midway through the third quarter, the Raiders lined up for a 43-yard field-goal attempt, but Anthony Price’s kick was blocked, and four plays later Cole broke off his long run for a 17-10 Brookwood lead.

Brookwood quarterback Ben McLane, who passed for 1,780 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2009, spent much of the day scrambling to escape pressure, which enabled the Raiders to minimize the impact of Broncos receiver Andre Sims Jr.

Sims, who has committed to Michigan State, caught 57 passes as a junior but made one catch Saturday, for 20 yards, in part because of the pressure on McLane and in part because Walton double-teamed Sims for much of the game.

“I played pretty rough the first half,” said McLane, who capped the scoring with a 25-yard pass to Cameron Lynch. “I did feel a little pressure, and it kind of tires you out, but that’s what we do conditioning for. After that I just needed to manage the game.”

Sims, meanwhile, made his presence felt in other ways. His 33-yard kickoff return gave the Broncos’ field position near midfield on their opening possession, and his 21-yard punt return in the second quarter led to Brookwood’s first touchdown, a 1-yard sneak by McLane.

Walton 0 10 0 0 — 10

Brookwood 3 7 7 10 — 27

B — FG Eric Yang 31

W — FG Nathan Dittmer 26

B — Ben McLane 1 run (Yang kick)

W — Kyle Vorster 4 run (Dittmer kick)

B — Jamaal Cole 49 run (Yang kick)

B — FG Yang 30

B — Cameron Lynch 25 pass from McLane (Yang kick)