STATESBORO -- Prideful Gator fans came to The Swamp on a chilly Friday night filled with turkey, and ready to let the Gators loose to continue their hunt for perfection, but in what proved to be a nail biting game, the Bulloch Academy Gators unfortunately fell short on a late game comeback to the Brookstone Cougars in a 24 to 22 loss.
The Bulloch Academy Gators, now 11-1, hosted the now 8-4 Brookstone Cougars in the semifinals of the GIAA Class 4A Football Championships. It has been 14 years since Bulloch Academy has won a region championship and 15 years since the Gators have been in a semifinal game.
Early in the fourth quarter, there was a controversial forced fumble that was recovered by Brookstone that changed the tide of the game. In that specific play, senior RB, Brennen Perossa, made a carry that resulted in a huge gain of yardage, but according to game officials, he was not down before he dropped the ball which gave Brookstone prime field advantage. This allowed Brookstone to get down the field in four first downs and top 12 kicker, Jimmy Hunter, to score a field goal with 3:48 seconds left in the fourth.
The Gators fought hard till the end. Two big penalties against the Cougars: an offsides call on a punt and a pass interference call allowed the Gators to score their third touchdown of the night with 53.9 seconds left in the game. This put the Gators two points away from tying up the game and within reach of making goal number 14 of 15.
Less than three seconds after scoring their touchdown, Bulloch Academy used their last timeout to stop the clock, but that proved to be less than successful because after that, Brookstone was able to run the last 50 seconds out since Bulloch Academy had no more timeouts left.
When you're down to the last four teams in the state, everyone is good so it’s all about who has the best luck. Pressure is a privilege and the pressure unluckily got to the Gators.
Phillips has been the third coach for the Gators in the last four years. The change hasn’t been easy, but he had a lot to say about his team, the seniors and the impact they had on him this season.
“These seniors right here lay the foundation of what hard work is, getting after it, how we work in the weight room and how we act as a gator,” said Phillips. “They meant the world to me, they've laid the foundation to what's to come. We want to build programs here and not teams, teams graduate programs don't. So these seniors laid the foundation for that.”
Brookstone may have had the luck, but Bulloch Academy is ending the season with the pot of gold: their first undefeated regular season and a group of seniors who made a legacy for themselves.
