Pirates Juwan Jones and Cosby Salter nail the Cougar runner with the ball. The first round of GHSA Class-A Play-0ffs for the #2 seed Miller County Pirates was a win over Brookstone Cougars from Columbus, 33-26. Pirate captains were Shawndre Sheffield, Cosby Salters, Zenario Shuler, and Dylan Spurlock and for the Cougars Brian Vogler, Jasper Mason, Andrew Carroll, and Milton McCluskey. Miller County won the coin toss and elected to receive. Brookstone's defense came on strong, causing a Pirate fumble and a Cougar possession of the pig. First and 10 from the Pirates' 28, Cougar quarterback Jake Howard sent a flying ball to Brian Vogler. Second and four, Howard slipped the pig to Drew McCluskey for the touchdown, but Brookstone's point attempt came up short, but the Cougars were on the scoreboard, 6-0.

After the Brookstone Cougars kicked a low wobbling ball to Juwan Jones, he proceeded down field, cutting this way and that way before enough of those snarling Cougars could catch up and stop him at the Cougars' 48. Miller County's offense drove hard downfield, picking up a couple of first downs. On the next drive Caleb Cunningham handed off to Shawndre Sheffield, and "Dre" zigzagged through a wall of Cougars to score a touchdown. Would you believe this? A bright yellow flag popped out from an official's backside, calling the play back. Needless to say, our boys at this time could not keep their momentum intact.

On Brookstone's next possession, Miller County's Black Death Defense put pressure on their runningbacks and wide receivers. Juwan Jones, Trevonti Barber, Josh Broxton, Cosby Salters, and Zenario Shuler meant that the Cougars were going to be stopped. It was third and three when a Cougar's fumble gave the Pirates their adrenaline rush.

First and 10 from the Pirates' own 26 yard line, Cunningham's hand off to Dre gave the Pirates yardage. On the next drive Cunningham slipped the pig to Josh Rhaymes, who picked up enough for a first down. With it first and 10 from the Pirates' own 39 yard line, Cunningham slipped the pig to Dre for a 61 yard touchdown. The Pirate fans looked over the field to see if there were yellow flags lying around, but didn't see any! Our boys attempted a two point conversion but came up short, but the score was tied 6-6 as the first quarter came to a close.

Brookstone had control of the ball going into the second quarter, but again the Black Death Defense put the pressure on the Cougars, causing them to boot away the ball with Miller County's Cosby Salters on the receiving end. It was the fourth down that Cunningham's power arm air mailed to Juwan Jones. Jones ran hard down inside the Cougars' 15 yard line. First and 10 from the Cougars' 11, Cunningham's magic hands slipped the ball to Zenario Shuler for an 11 yard run touchdown. Again the Pirates attempted a two point conversion but came up short. The score stood 12-6 in Pirates' favor.

Miller County went on to score two more touchdowns. With the first one coming from great blocking by Juwan Jones, Shawndre Sheffield scooted right into the end zone. The two point conversion made by Trevonti Barber moved the Pirates up, 20- 6. The second touchdown came shortly after Cunningham connected with Juwan Jones again. Jarrett Rhaymes, Trevonti Barber and Cosby Salters' excellent blocking gave Jones a 62 yard run. First and five from the Cougar's five yards line, Cunningham again slipped the pig to "Dre" for a touchdown. Josh "Wild Thang" Broxton's booted that pig right between the poles, moving the Pirates up 27-6 going into half time.

Once again our Miller County Marching Band performed superbly. All the future little Pirates and Lady Pirates enjoyed listening to our band as they performed music from the group sensational "Journey" and Michael Jackson's 'Thriller." Our team, band, and school may be small compared to other schools, but we definitely have school pride, and it shows. We really do have great kids attending our school and great teachers teaching our kids. It is a joy to watch our students, whether male or female represents our school, because they have been taught school pride.

As the third quarter got underway, the Brookstone Cougars were on the receiving end, and it was apparent that Brookstone had adjusted their playing strategies. Brookstone's running back Drew Mc- Cluskey scored a touchdown, and their point attempt fell in the middle. The score stood Cougars' 13 to the Pirates' 27.

During this third quarter, our boys might have taken the Brookstone Cougars for granted, because Brookstone's defense began to shut our boys down. The next score came from Cougars' Jake Howard throwing a pass to Drew Lingo. Brookstone's point attempt was good, moving the Cougars up 20 to Pirates' 27.

Miller County opened up the fourth quarter with Cunningham's air mail pass to Juwan Jones for a 18 yard touchdown, our two point conversion came up short, but we were moving away from the Cougars with Pirates 33 and Cougars 20.

As time was ticking off the clock, Brookstone Cougars and the Miller County Pirates were headto head and toe-to-toe. Brookstone scored again from Jake Howard's long pass to Drew McCluskey, and their point attempt swayed a little. The final score was Miller County Pirates, 33, to Brookstone Cougars, 26.

This win will send our boys over to the coast to face Savannah Christian which is the top seed from Region 3-A. Confidence

is all our boys need, and

there is plenty. All that is asked from each of you is to please take each game one at a time and do not look further down the road. Do not put the cart in front of the horse, so to speak. Focus only on this game against Savannah Christian, and if it is meant to be, then it will come full circle.