Columbus area high school football rivalry has ex-player seeking redemption as coach

When you mention the Broocelli Jug around the Brookstone Cougars and Pacelli Vikings, their reactions exemplify the essence of a classic high school football rivalry.

“It’s more intense and the fans are way more into it than any other game,” said Brookstone senior running back and defensive back Jeremiah Burgess, who is 3-0 in the rivalry, including last year’s 61-14 victory. “One of the goals of our season and all the seniors is to keep the jug.”

And the Vikings are trying to take it back.

“If we break the streak, it would mean everything, especially for the seniors,” said Pacelli senior quarterback and cornerback Jacob Anderson.

Friday will be the 48th football game between Brookstone and Pacelli. Kickoff at Brookstone is set for 7:30 p.m.

Brookstone lead the regular-season series 29-16-1, having played annually since 1972. Brookstone also beat Pacelli 31-13 in a 1988 Georgia High School Association region semifinal playoff game.

Both teams come into the game on winning streaks. Brookstone (3-1 overall, 1-0 in Region 4-A Division A) has won its past three games. Pacelli (3-2, 1-1) has won two straight.

Pacelli second-year head coach Mark LeGree understands this rivalry from the player and coach perspectives.

“It means a lot to the kids, the school, and it means a lot to me,” he said.

LeGree played three seasons at Pacelli, graduating in 2007. After becoming a three-time NCAA Division I-AA All-American defensive back at Appalachian State, the Seattle Seahawks drafted him in the fifth ground of the 2011 NFL draft. He was cut in the preseason, then signed with the Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets, Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons and Buffalo Bills but never played in a regular-season game. He played in the 2014 and 2015 Canadian Football League seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Now, he intends to help the Vikings experience a Broocelli Jug victory, something he did only once in his three chances as a player.

His most memorable moment in the rivalry is a bitter one. In 2006, his senior season, LeGree was stripped of the ball while running on a reverse in the red zone during Pacelli’s first drive. Brookstone recovered and scored on the ensuing drive. That two-score swing was the difference in Pacelli’s 20-7 loss.

“If that didn’t happen,” he said, “we could have won that game.”

Anderson expects LeGree’s disappointment 12 years ago to “play a big role” this week. “He’s going build us up so we can make sure we don’t have to live through the same thing he did as a senior,” Anderson said.

Brookstone head coach Blair Harrison hasn’t played in any Broocelli Jug games, but he has an 8-2 coaching record against the Vikings in two stints with the Cougars (2003-11 and back again last year), including his eight-game winning streak in the rivalry after losing his first two.

“It’s something else to play for besides a region game,” he said, “so it makes it a little bit more interesting. … (The players) come in a little more focused, but our guys do a good job keeping it in perspective.”

Harrison praised Pacelli for having “some playmakers we’ve got to contain and make them drive the field and not give up big plays.”

Burgess said, “Their skill guys are pretty good.”

LeGree called Brookstone “very fundamentally sound.”

Anderson predicted, “This game will come down to who plays smarter and who plays with everything they have.”

Despite losing starting quarterback Tray Sanders, a sophomore, to a season-ending knee injuring in practice a few weeks ago, senior Ben Sloan has “done a great job managing the offense” the past two games as the starter, Harrison said. Those two wins, including Sloan’s two touchdown passes and two rushing TDs, have shown “he’s taking advantage of the opportunity,” Harrison said.

Burgess said Sloan has “stepped up and helped us out a bunch.”

Harrison lauded the improvement of Brookstone’s offensive line.

“They got a lot stronger in the weight room,” he said. “We’re able to block people better than we’ve had in the past, but we also have three dang-good running backs that can play and a couple more subs. So we can run left, right and up the middle.”

Those improved blockers, Harrison said, are tight end Pat Perkins, right tackle Pepper Miller, right guard William Neal, center Wes Brown, left guard Coleman Galbraith, left tackle Blake Foster and even split end Chris Edmonds.

“We’re playing together as a team,” Burgess said. “If we keep doing that, I feel really good about this season. As long as we never underestimate our opponent, we’ll be a hard team to beat.”

Harrison wants his team to tackle better on and finish plays more consistently on defense. Although the Cougars have committed six turnovers, they have forced twice as many. Still, some of those fumbles have cost Brookstone’s offense.

“Nobody has really stopped us,” Harrison said. “We’ve stopped ourselves. We killed two of our drives Friday night on turnovers (in a 48-18 home win against Greenville), and, in our only loss, we had two turnovers on back-to-back drives inside the 40 and we lost by four points (36-32 at Montgomery Academy).”

Burgess said, “We definitely are fixing that up for the season.”

LeGree took over the Pacelli program last year after the Vikings went 1-9 in 2016. They went 0-10 in 2017, but they already have won more games halfway through this regular season than they did the last two seasons combined.

“We’re doing our jobs, doing what we’re supposed to do,” LeGree said. “We’ve started believing, not giving up. We’re in a lot better shape this year. We still have a young team, but those young guys we relied on last year are a year older. The biggest thing is our mindset.”

LeGree wants his Vikings to “get better pad level in the trenches. It’s a pivotal part of the offense and defense. We’re trying to get bigger and stronger there, better pushes up front.”

Anderson credits LeGree and the other Pacelli coaches for “bringing us a lot closer together. We can’t play as individuals; we have to play together for each other. We are a family.”

Brookstone’s statistical leaders: Burgess has rushed for 484 yards and five touchdowns on 40 carries; Edmonds has four receptions for 81 yards and no touchdowns; Sanders has completed 12 of 16 passes for 122 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions; Branche Sheffield has 24 total tackles and one sack.

Pacelli’s statistical leaders: Anderson has rushed for 301 yards and three touchdowns on 66 carries; Colt Meyer has 10 receptions for 135 yards and one touchdown; Anderson has completed 36 of 58 passes for 332 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions; Jay Menefee has 37 total tackles and two forced fumbles.

This week’s local games

Thursday

Rutland at Kendrick (A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium), 7 p.m.

Hardaway vs. Shaw (Kinnett Stadium), 7 p.m.

Friday

Temple at Jordan (Kinnett Stadium), 5 p.m.

Carver vs. Northside, (A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium), 7:30 p.m.

Columbus at Cairo, 7:30 p.m.

Pacelli at Brookstone, 7:30 p.m.

Calvary Christian at Covenant Academy, 7:30 p.m.

Miller County at Chattahoochee County, 7:30 p.m.

Russell County at Harris County, 7:30 p.m.

Central-Talbotton at Manchester, 7:30 p.m.

Marion County at Greenville, 7:30 p.m.

Lamar County at Spencer (Kinnett Stadium), 8 p.m.

Park Crossing at Central-Phenix City, 8 p.m.

Glenwood vs. Noxubee County, Miss. (at Birmingham Southern), 8 p.m.

Stanhope Elmore at Smiths Station, 8 p.m.

Mark Rice, 706-576-6272, @MarkRiceLE.