Jeff Francoeur won four state championships at Parkview High School, two in baseball and two in football. But his most memorable game came as a junior in football during a regular-season game in 2000 against rival Brookwood.
The game was played Oct. 20 at Brookwood, and at the time the Panthers were ranked No. 7 while Brookwood was fifth. Both teams were 6-0.
“I remember they had to close down Five Forks Trickum Road for that game because there were so many people coming to the stadium,’’ Francoeur said. “I remember walking down the hill to the field for the game and seeing all those people. We had the game won, but they came back late and kicked a field goal to tie it.”
Before more than 11,000 people in Lawrenceville, the game went into overtime tied at 10-10, with Francoeur dominating as a junior on offense and defense. The overtime rules then were two five-minute overtimes and if the score was tied at the end, the win would go to the team that had the deepest penetration in the opposition’s territory.
Brookwood had two possessions and scored first and made the extra point, going up 17-10. Parkview, also with two possessions, then converted on a fourth down in its own territory on its second possession and drove to the Brookwood 10. On second down a Broncos defensive back dropped an interception in the end zone.
Then on fourth-and-goal from the 10, Parkview quarterback Clint Simmons rolled right and out of trouble and threw a pass that bounced off the shoulder of a diving receiver Joey Sturdivant and fell into the arms of tight end Kirk Alexander in the end zone.
Said Brookwood coach Dave Hunter at the time, “The Brookwood people say it hit the ground. The Parkview people say it hit a helmet or something. I don’t know.”
Parkview had to go for the two-point conversion because Brookwood had the deepest penetration. The Panthers would score on a play where Francoeur crossed with Alexander, who would catch the pass for the win.
“I remember on that last play Kirk spiking the ball,’’ Francouer said. “We had pulled the game out of our butts. I remember the Brookwood fans in overtime ready to storm the field because they thought they had it won. It was very gratifying to beat those guys like that.’’
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