Much of the pregame buzz around the Brookwood-Meadowcreek game revolved around Meadowcreek running back Chauncey Williams, who entered the game as the state’s leading rusher. But at the end of the day it was Brookwood’s Dante Black who stole the spotlight and sparked the Broncos to a runaway win.
Black ran 12 times for 170 yards and two touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass to lead Class AAAAAAA No. 7 Brookwood to a 63-0 win at Meadowcreek Community Stadium.
Williams, who entered the game with 1,410 yards and 21 touchdowns, carried 26 times and gained 56 yards. His longest run was 11 yards.
“He’s an exceptional player,” Brookwood coach Philip Jones said. “Our defense was very challenged by that. They knew he was the leading rusher in the state and it was time for them to show what they could do. They put a lot of pride in their preparation.”
Black scored on runs of 18 and 68 yards and caught a 29-yard touchdown pass. Matthew Hill also caught touchdown passes of 18 and 78 yards and twice made big plays on punt returns that set up scores.
“He’s a good running back. Hat’s off to his talent,” Black said. “But I’ve always believed in my ability and felt like I could come out and do what I did.”
Perhaps the most disappointed group was the Brookwood linemen. Black always buys them dinner when he rushes for 175 yards. Someone is going home hungry.
“My line did a great job,” he said. “I was 5 yards off. They’ll probably be a little disappointed, but I’ll probably do something for them.”
Brookwood (4-2) looked an old-school version of itself on offense. The Broncos dominated the line of scrimmage and moved the ball at will.
“We wanted to take a physical approach,” Jones said. “We lined up in our heavy package and wanted to make a statement. Everything followed suite from there.”
Meadowcreek (6-1) is coming off the fastest start in school history. The Mustangs have clinched their first winning season since 1990 and are trying to reach the playoffs for the first time since 1988. The Mustangs were 0-13 against Brookwood and lost 54-0 to the Broncos.
That’s why Jones preached to his players all week about remaining focused and forgetting about past results.
“I’m proud of their preparation and mentality,” Jones said. “They didn’t take anything for granted. They approached it maturely and they came out and competed their tails off.”
It took Brookwood two plays to score its first touchdown, with Black going 16 on the first carry and 18 on the second run for a touchdown. Black scored again on the next possession, this time on a 68-yard run.
It began to get ugly early in the second quarter. Brookwood scored on a 9-yard run by Matthew Hill to put the Broncos up by three scores. Williams then fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Isaiah Rorey recovered for Brookwood. The Broncos scored on the next play when Angelo DiSpigna connected to Hill for an 18-yard touchdown.
Brookwood added two more scores before halftime. Cameron Barrington threw a 29-yard option pass to Black and the Broncos tacked on another touchdown with eight seconds left when DiSpigna threw a slant to Hill, who ran through the secondary and walked down the sidelines for a 78-yard touchdown.
Brookwood ran 15 plays in the first half and scored on five of them. The Broncos led 42-0 at halftime.
The Broncos scored three times in the second half. D.J. Horne caused a fumble and Justin Scola recovered in the end zone. Eli Kohl and Anthony McClary scored on runs.
