Baylor had things going its way through the first half of its Division II-AA high school football game Friday. In addition, the Red Raiders received the second-half kickoff and subsequently marched to Brentwood Academy’s 14.

What happened next changed possession, changed momentum, and not long afterward changed the scoreboard, and the Eagles went on for a 42-21 victory at Baylor.

The Red Raiders were leading 21-13 when Brentwood Academy’s Kwazel Bertrand intercepted a pass at the 1-yard line and returned it 34 yards. Two plays later, quarterback Cody Nelson connected with Joshua Pleasant for a 59-yard touchdown pass. Joshua Tate tied it when he bulled in for the conversion.

“They took it from there and drove it and scored on us, and I think that took some of the air out of our sails,” Baylor coach Phillip Massey said. “The kids played hard. I’m extremely proud of them and my assistant coaches. We had a great game plan. We’ve got to learn to finish out there.”

Brentwood Academy (4-1, 2-0) ended up outscoring Baylor 29-0 in the second half.

“I think we kind of wore them down a little bit,” BA coach Ralph Potter said. “We helped them in the first half with turnovers, but they were stripping the ball, so they earned some of what they got. We still need to hang on to it, that’s for sure.”

The way the Eagles wore on the Red Raiders was with their running game. Tate ran 21 times for 148 yards. His backup, Victor Caro, carried 14 times for 107 yards and scored three touchdowns.

Baylor tried to counter with Sam Williams, who worked for his 105 yards on 29 rushes. Eleven yards was all the Red Raiders got from its other running backs.

“Their running backs are some good athletes,” Massey said. “We knew we were going to have to have nine hats up close to the line of scrimmage at the starting point. They’re two strong kids that are able to break tackles.”

In turn, the running game set up Nelson, who was 8-for-16 through the air for 198 yards and three touchdowns.

Baylor answered BA’s touchdown on the opening drive with a 10-play, 78-yard march on its first possession. Williams dove in from the 1, and the first of Tanner Taylor’s three extra points tied it at 7.

The Red Raiders went up 14-7 after Brandon Pickett caused and recovered a fumble at the Eagles’ 47. After quarterback Charlie Wilson sold the defense with a run fake, he hit Brett Murray in stride ahead of three defenders at the 5.

“We had run the stretch play pretty well before that,” Massey said. “It was a first-down, change-of-possession situation. We faked the stretch play and were able to pull it, and Charlie hit Brett Murray deep down the middle. It was pretty.”

The victory marks the 11th consecutive season a Ralph Potter coached team has beaten Baylor (2-2, 0-2). The Eagles won 30-0 last year in the former McCallie coach’s first season at BA.

“I don’t think much about it,” Potter said. “The game was important to us because it’s a region game. Baylor’s a much improved football team.”

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