CLINTON — This one is for Bryan.
Jason Brabham knew his Oak Forest (La.) football team was hungry following a loss to Magnolia Heights in the semifinals of the 2013 Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, Division II playoffs.
A season-opening victory against Silliman Institute gave Oak Forest the confidence to believe it could get past the semifinal round and take the next step to win the program’s first championship since 2002.
The fact that the Yellow Jackets were able to accomplish that goal Saturday for Bryan Brumfield made it extra special.
Tyler Hasson rushed for 155 yards and three touchdowns and threw for another score to lead Oak Forest to a 37-12 victory against Starkville Academy in the MAIS Class AAA, Division II title game at Mississippi College.
Kaylin Stewart added 104 yards rushing as the Yellow Jackets used a dominating performance by the offensive line to amass 310 yards rushing to cap a 13-1 season.
Houston Clark threw for a touchdown and had a 38-yard touchdown run for Starkville Academy (11-2), which was playing in its first state title game since 2011.
After the game, members of the Oak Forest program presented the game ball to Jan Brumfield, the wife of Bryan Brumfield, a former Oak Forest player and a longtime supporter of the school, who died April 22, 2013, due to a heart attack at the age of 50.
“Bryan was a dear friend of mine,” Brabham said. “He played at Nicholls State and he was the booster club president. He was everybody’s right-hand man. He was always at the school when you needed something done.”
The victory was even sweeter because Bradley Brumfield, Bryan’s son, wore his father’s No. 15 on a Saturday in which the Yellow Jackets scored 23 unanswered points in the second half to turn a 6-6 tie at halftime into a big lead. Brabham was emotional after the game as he talked about Bryan’s older son, Caleb, who also played football at Oak Forest, and Bryan’s daughter, Lauren, who was at the game Saturday.
“Bryan was the greatest Oak Forest supporter,” Brabham said. “He bled black and gold like no other.”
Bradley, who Brabham said overcame a four-wheeler wreck, nearly didn’t play in the game after tweaking his knee in warmups. Brabham said Brumfield “sucked it up” and managed to be a part of what turned out to be a special day.
Oak Forest made it a memorable afternoon thanks to an offensive line of Philip Labarbera, Tyler Kepner, Travis Shaw, Brent Ruiz, Blake Henry, and Chris Carter. Brabham said several of the offensive linemen also anchored a defensive line that held Starkville Academy’s running game to 150 yards.
“I thought, for the most part, they did a good job,” Brabham said. “They were outnumbering us on the edge and we couldn’t get the ball outside like we normally do, so we had to come back and run the ball straight at them. That was the game plan coming in and not to get excited and get away from that. I felt like that was the difference in the game.”
Starkville Academy coach Jeff Terrill said he knew Oak Forest was going to rely on its running game. He also could tell from watching film that the Yellow Jackets were a physical team. Unfortunately, he said the Yellow Jackets were able to set the tone with their physical play.
The back-breaker came on the first possession of the third quarter, when Hasson appeared to be contained on an option keeper to the right. But the senior quarterback found a seam in the defense and raced 57 yards for the first score in the 23-point run.
“The option play at the start of the second half set the tone,” Terrill said. “They just out-executed us and beat us on the field.”
Terrill said he hoped the Volunteers would match the Yellow Jackets’ intensity to try to combat their physical play. A lack of execution hurt the Volunteers’ morale and played a role in Terrill’s decision to call a timeout and bring the players on the field and on the sideline together. He encouraged the players to get their heads straight and to come together behind the team’s motto “One heartbeat, one team.” The move appeared to work, as Josh Crittenden and Blake Slaughter had aggressive tackles on plays that yielded 1 yard. But faced with a third-and-10 from its 30-yard line and with the prospect of giving momentum to the Volunteers, Hasson avoided a one-on-one tackle and ripped a 29-yard gain. The drive didn’t yield points, but it was one of several instances when Starkville Academy was in position to make plays but it couldn’t finish to seize control.
“When you’re playing in a game like this, no matter how much you try to say it isn’t different, I think kids come out and they are tight, they are nervous and they don’t want to make any mistakes,” Terrill said. “Frankly, we just didn’t make some routine plays that we normally make. I just feel like they were nervous and they were letting it fall away from them and they were so worried about not playing well that it caused them to play not as well as they could.”
Starkville Academy eventually stopped Oak Forest on that drive in the second quarter and went up-tempo with 3 minutes, 42 seconds remaining before halftime. Clark had a 15-yard run on third-and-7 to keep the drive alive. He also connected with Colt Chrestman on a 25-yard gain to moved the Volunteers into Yellow Jacket territory. After gaining no yards on back-to-back plays, Clark connected with Chrestman on an over-the-shoulder pass in the right corner of the end zone with 45 seconds left to tie the game. The Volunteers failed to execute the center-to-holder exchange and didn’t get to attempt an extra point.
Terrill said the Volunteers wanted to use more up-tempo attack in the second half, but he said the team’s inability to execute routine plays hampered the offense’s ability to move the football. Even though the team came up short, Terrill praised his team for making believers out of people who never though the Volunteers would be North Half state champions. He said the hard work and determination the players showed in rebounding from a 4-7 season in 2013 made this season special for Starkville Academy.
Terrill said the challenge is to build on that momentum and the message of “One team, one heartbeat.”
“We have a great group of juniors coming back that we think can give us a shot to get back here again,” Terrill said.
For Brabham, he said his team’s hard work in the weight room set the stage for this season to be memorable. He said the runs by Hasson epitomized the toughness and the will to win the Yellow Jackets used in the second half to power their way to a title.
“Our whole team has been in the weight room doing power cleans and kettle bells and snatches and things like that,” Brabham said. “I think you saw that pay off when (Hasson) broke a couple of tackles and was determined to get into the end zone.”
The effort had to make Bryan smile.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.