FPD wins defensive clash 6-3 over Brookstone in GIAA championship rematch

In a battle of stalling offenses, FPD made a touchdown pass in the final seconds of the first half that ended up fueling a 6-3 win over Brookstone in a rematch of last year’s GIAA Class 4A state championship game.

The games had nothing in common, other than FPD winning, as the Vikings took the title last year at Mercer 44-24.

“Our inability to run the ball on third down was the difference,” said Brookstone head coach Rance Gillespie, who has also been head coach at Peach County, Hart County and Valdosta. “We’ve got to be able to get first downs when we’re third and one.”

For the record, one has to go back to 2013 for the last time Gillespie coached in a game that ended with a single-digit score, when his Valdosta Wildcats lost 3-0 to crosstown rival Lowndes.

Games of less than four touchdowns in Gillespie’s career are few and far between.

Collier is in his second year as a head coach. Just four weeks ago, his Vikings held on for a 10-0 season-opening win over Eagle’s Landing Christian. Last year’s state title team played in games that averaged 52 points.

The last Vikings’ game to finish in the single digits was a 7-0 loss in 2005 at George Walton.

“That’s tough,” FPD head coach Brett Collier said of the evening. “That’s unique.”

Brookstone (1-2) was forced into four three-and-outs to three for FPD. One of those scenarios typified offensive issues.

FPD (3-1) punted on a three-and-out to open the third quarter, but Brookstone fumbled it back to give the Vikings the ball on the Cougars’ 33. Six plays later, they punted.

After Brookstone kicked it back, the Vikings were suddenly inside the Brookstone 30 and fumbled it back on a first-down gain.

It all started early. Brookstone threw an interception on the third play of the game, and FPD fumbled it right back two plays later. The Cougars drove 55 yards on their next possession, but FPD’s defense stood up and forced a 27-yard field goal with 4:59 left in the first quarter.

Nobody expected the visitors from Columbus to be done changing the scoreboard, but they had trouble sustaining anything.

FPD had some longer drives that all ended with frustration, with one notable exception. The offense took over on its 29 and moved, getting 17 yards on a third-and-9 pass from Major Simmons to Breck Griffin before picking up 18 on another third and nine, this time with a Simmons pass to Benjamin McElreath.

On fourth and 9 — naturally — at the 20, the Simmons-McElreath connection worked again, McElreath battling in for the touchdown with nine seconds left in the half.

The PAT kick was blocked, which seemed at the time like a big play, but the touchdown was all the Vikings would need.

“It’s been hard this year to figure out exactly who we are,” Collier said of the Vikings’ offense. “I know what our identity is as far as how we play football. Exactly what adjustments we need to make going forward, we’ll figure it out. We’ll get the ball in our best players’ hands.”

The Viking defense kept doing its job in the second half, with Brookstone managing only five first downs.

Still, the Cougars started to threaten late after taking over on their 14 with 4:04 left. They got a first down on FPD’s 41, but the Vikings stood up in the middle to stop quarterback Broughton Branch on third and one.

Hoping to find another short-pass opening, Brookstone went to the air, but Heisman Alvarez and Brady McHugh were on the receiver to break it up and seal it.

“Never,” McHugh said of the last time he was in such a game. “The biggest thing about the rain is making sure to hold on to the football. But honestly, on defense, it’s pretty fun.”

Brookstone managed 228 yards on 43 snaps, to 195 on 55 for FPD. Gray Jones ran for  101 yards on 19 carries for Brookstone, while McHugh had 577 on 14.

“We did what we needed to do when we needed to do it,” Collier said. “It wasn’t always pretty, but when we needed to have something, we got it.”