The Brook Hill Guard Varsity football team downed the host Overton Mustangs 5-1 in a scrimmage last Saturday in Overton. Coach Jim Klaczak's troops looked sharp against the Mustangs, reeling off 5 touchdowns against an always tough Overton squad.

Brook Hill started off the scoring on a short run by running back Luke Molitar.  Earlier, Molitar scampered through a big hole and galloped 58 yards, only to score on the very next play from 3 yds. out.  Molitar also added a 40 yd. touchdown run later in the scrimmage.  Sophomore QB Tyler Baker also figured in on the scoring, once with a short run, and the second by tossing a 70 yd. pass to junior Jeremy Chapell.  Chapell tallied twice on the night also, adding a 40 yd. tochdown run off of a fumble recovery.

Klaczak credited his defense with setting the tone for the opening win. "If we continue to improve defensively" the 'ole ball coach noted, "it will be our defense that will be the mainstay for our team.  We held Overton to almost nothing offensively.  The yards they gained were very short ones.  Very short."           

Klaczak had high praise for defensive performers such as Austin Pile, Ross Nichols, Jacob Johnson, and J.B. Moss who had an interception.    The Guard JV team was led by Logan Kilpatrick as Brook Hill tied Overton in JV action 0-0.                                                       

The Guard now hosts Cayuga on Thursday night with JV action beginning at 6:00 while the varsity begins at 6:45.

The Guard's first regular season game will be at All Saints at 2:00 on Saturday, August 30th against Hawkins.

The Brook Hill Football Program has just completed its third year in the TAPPS 4-Division II league.  In 2006, the team won its first district title.

In 2007, with a team made up mostly of underclassmen, the Varsity Football Team continued its success with a second straight district title and was undefeated (4-0) in district play.  Offensively, the team averaged 37.8 points per game. Freshman running back Julius Johnson scored 28 touchdowns this season while Senior Cody Franklin averaged 89 yards per game.  On the defensive side of the ball, we held our district opponents to nine points per game.  We were pleased to have twenty Guard players make the All-District Teams (nine on the first team, eight on the second team and three honorable mentions.)  Seven Guard players were named to the All-State teams, including First Team members Junior Jacob Johnson on the defensive line and running back Freshman Julius Johnson.  In addition, congratulations are due to Juniors Luke Baker, Jacob Johnson and Ross Nichols who were named to the All-State Academic Team (First Team in District with a GPA of 90% or above).

The Middle School Football Program had fifty-five boys playing in 2007 divided between two teams, one with 7th & 8th graders and one made up mostly of 6th & 7th graders.   Brook Hill is one of the few schools that allows 6th graders to play on its middle school teams and these young men gained valuable game experience this year. The 7th & 6th grade (White) team was 3-3 this season, with the highlight being a 14-12 victory over Frankston, a public school 7th grade team that was physically and in numbers much larger than our team.

The 8th grade (Blue) team was undefeated for the third straight year, going 23-0 over the last three years.  The team, led by 8th graders Ross Lee, JB Moss, Jared Dickey and Taft Rose and seventh grader JP Hendrix, played a tough schedule against large public school teams as well as other private school and select teams, ending up the season with a 9-0 record.  This 8th grade team has a lot of talent and commitment to hard work and the varsity will be pleased to have them move up in 2008.

Please contact Jim Klaczak, Head Football Coach, at jklaczak@brookhill.org with any questions concerning the football program.