Brookstone wins third straight with rout of Taylor County

On homecoming night at Rex Knight Stadium, Brookstone ran its triple-option offense like a smooth machine and used a stingy defense to beat Taylor County 42-12.

Prather Hudson scored three touchdowns and Sam Ndem rushed for 144 yards on 21 carries for the Cougars who moved to 3-2, 3-0 in Region 4-A. Taylor fell to 1-4, 1-2 in region.

Brookstone's quarterback Russell Blanchard passed for 187 yards on 9-of-11 completions and one touchdown. He also rushed for 74 yards.

"I thought (Blanchard) did an awesome job running the offense," said Brookstone coach Scott Pethtel. "Tonight we were able to throw too and that was nice."

The Cougars opened the scoring in the first quarter when sophomore Blanchard connected with senior Hudson on a 34-yard pass for a touchdown.

On the ensuing kickoff, Taylor's Lyn Dixon sprinted 95 yards untouched for a touchdown, making the score 7-6 Brookstone after the point after failed.

On the next series, Brookstone managed a long, sustained drive, highlighted by a 47-yard pass to Hudson, and scored when fullback Josh Long crashed in from 1 yard. That made it 14-6

Late in the second quarter, Brookstone hit a big play when Blanchard tossed to Sam Ndem on a sweep and he ran 45 yards for a touchdown at :35 before halftime. Matt Taich's kick gave Brookstone a 21-6 lead.

Taylor got the ball to start the second half, marched down the field and scored when Gunnar Watson passed to Dixon for a 16-yard touchdown, making the score 21-12

But it was all Brookstone after that as they scored 21 unanswered points, twice on Hudson rushing touchdowns, to seal the victory, their 11th straight against Taylor from Butler, Ga.

Brookstone's triple option offense, which looks very similar to the one run by Georgia Tech, generated 551 total yards to Taylor's 151.

Defensively, Garrett Bell and Sam Lowe recovered fumbles for the opportunistic Cougars.

"Our hard work is finally starting to pay off," said Pethtel.

Friday at Rex Knight Field

Taylor Co. 6 0 6 0--12

Brookstone 14 7 7 14--42First Quarter

B--Prather Hudson 34 pass from Russell Blanchard (Matt Taich kick), 3:58

TC--Lyn Dixon 95 kickoff return (kick failed), 3:41

B--Josh Long 1 run (Taich kick), 1:34Second QuarterB--Sam Ndem 45 run (Taich kick), 0:32Third QuarterTC--Dixon 16 pass from Gunnar Watson (kick failed), 10:19

B--D'Andre Dashiell 7 run (Taich kick), 3:54Fourth QuarterB--Hudson 1 run (Taich kick), 9:35

B--Hudson 1 run (Taich kick), 3:37

Team records: Taylor County 1-4, 1-2 Region 4-A. Brookstone 3-2, 3-0. Next: Brookstone, at Marion County, Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m.

This story was originally published October 2, 2015 at 11:48 PM with the headline "Brookstone wins third straight with rout of Taylor County ."