For the second straight week, a couple of big plays proved too much to overcome for the Brewton Middle School football team. In the most recent case, UMS-Wright broke an 8-8 tie with runs of 51 and 71 yards on consecutive possessions in the third quarter en route to a 22-8 victory at Brewton Municipal Stadium Thursday night.
While UMS-Wright got 122 yards on those two plays alone, BMS held its opponent to just 25 yards rushing otherwise and 20 passing. In that effort, Anterrio Drakeford and Hunter Brittain led the charge with eight total tackles, and five solos each. Kristian Smith, JoJo Booker and Joshua Winton added four tackles apiece and Booker broke up a pass on a two-point conversion try. Safety Caleb Winton hawked his fifth interception of the season, returning it 17 yards, and broke up two passes as well.
It was offensively where the biggest struggle has continued for BMS. In seven possessions, it lost a fumble, turned over on downs twice, punted three times and had the ball for its last drive when the clock ran out to end the game. In all, it managed just 44 rushing yards and 15 through the air on 3-of-5 passing for a total of 59 yards. Joshua Gunter had seven carries for 36 yards while Marcus Paul added 19 yards on 10 carries.
UMS-Wright took an 8-0 lead in the first quarter after converting a fumble recovery into a 10-yard TD pass, then ran in the conversion, and the lead stood through the first half. Gunter provided one of the few sparks of the night for BMS when he returned the second-half kickoff 70 yards down the right sideline for the touchdown. Paul’s conversion run knotted the score.
With the defense forcing UMS-Wright to punt on its next possession, BMS was caught roughing the kicker and watched as one play later the visitors broke through the heart of the line for the 51-yard TD run. Booker knocked down the conversion pass and the score stood at 14-8. UMS-Wright put the final nail in the coffin on its next possession when it got free on a 71-yard TD run on a broken play.
BMS will play again next Thursday at 6 p.m., when it hosts W.S. Neal Middle.