Quarterback Dylan Lonergan threw two touchdown passes and a two-point conversion and scored on a 59-yard run in the game’s final nine minutes to help ninth-ranked Brookwod overcome an 11-point deficit and beat Walton 43-32 Friday night in Raider Valley.
Lonergan’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Sam M’Bake and two-point conversion pass to Jack Spyke with 8:40 remaining enabled Brookwood, which had trailed 32-21, to get back in the game at 32-29.
After forcing a punt, Brookwood (2-0) took over at its 28 with 6:12 left. Longeran ran for 13 yards on the first play and 59 yards on the second to give the Broncos the lead for good at 36-32.
The Broncos forced a three-and-out on Walton’s next possession and scored quickly again. On the second play, Lonergan threw a short pass to Stone Bonner, who broke away from a tackle and went 65 yards for the touchdown that put the game away with 2:59 to play.
“Just really proud of our guys,” Brookwood coach Philip Jones said. “It’s the second game in a row that we’ve had to come back and show our grit and our fight and toughness. It’s a credit to the character of our kids and our toughness.”
Brookwood scored on its first two possessions, on an 8-yard pass from Lonergan to Conley Davis and a 9-yard run by Alexander Diggs, for a 14-0 lead less than nine minutes into the game.
Walton cut into the lead with a 53-yard field goal by Conor Cummins and an 8-yard touchdown pass from Zak Rozsman to Ryan Polinski to make it 14-10 at halftime.
Diggs scored on a 1-yard run on Brookwood’s first drive of the second half, but Walton scored on its next three possessions for the 32-21 lead three plays into the fourth quarter. Rozsman threw touchdown passes of 38 yards to Stone McKnight and 3 yards to Preston Evans and scored on a 4-yard run.
The fourth-quarter comeback was the second in as many games for Brookwood, which trailed Dacula 14-7 in the final two minutes but tied the game on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Lonergan to Denylon Morrissette with 1:03 remaining and went on to win 40-34 in four overtimes.
This was a much different game, however. Against Dacula, Lonergan passed for 433 yards and the Broncos were held to 6 yards rushing on 21 carries. This week, the Broncos were much more balanced, finishing with 242 yards rushing and 274 passing. Lonergan was 21-of-30 passing with three touchdowns and ran for 128 yards and a score on five carries. Diggs ran for 73 yards on 14 carries and scored two touchdowns.
“We just want to be balanced and take what the defense gives us,” Jones said. “Dacula in the first game, by nature they crowd the box and forced us to throw it more. Walton did the opposite. They play off and play two high safeties all game and sort of invited us to run and throw the underneath stuff. So that’s what was there tonight. We had some mixed results here and there, but in the end we made the plays we needed to win the game.”
Walton (2-1) has trailed in all three of its games, including two when facing double-digit deficits in the second half. The Raiders came back to win the first two, against Kell (35-28) and Pope (34-10), but couldn’t do it a third time.
Rozsman was 11-of-18 passing for 175 yards, rushed for 32 yards on 10 carries, had one catch for 15 yards and had a hand in all four Walton touchdowns (three passing, one rushing). A.J. Brooks rushed for 83 yards on 11 carries and scored on a two-point conversion run. Walton finished with 208 yards passing and 142 rushing.
Brookwood - 14-0-7-22 - 43
Walton - 0-10-15-7 - 32
First quarter
B - Conley Davis 8 pass from Dylan Lonergan (Dan Le-Hernandez kick), 5:17
B - Alexander Diggs 9 run (Le-Hernandez kick), 3:22
Second quarter
W - Conor Cummins 53 field goal, 4:29
W - Ryan Polinski 13 pass from Zak Rozsman (Cummins kick), 2:37
Third quarter
B - Diggs 1 run (Le-Hernandez kick), 6:45
W - Stone McKnight 38 pass from Rozsman (A.J. Brooks run), 4:27
W - Preston Evans 3 pass from Rozsman (Cummins kick), 2:20
Fourth quarter
W - Rozsman 4 run (Cummins kick), 10:52
B - Sam M’Bake 19 pass from Lonergan (Jack Spyke pass from Lonergan), 8:40
B - Lonergan 59 run (Le-Hernandez kick), 5:38
B - Stone Bonner 65 pass from Lonergan (Le-Hernandez kick), 2:59
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