Late in the fourth quarter of a high school football game played in the evening of an excruciatingly hot day, the Brainerd defense yelled back to the sideline, “I love it! I love it! I love it!”
They weren’t talking about the weather.
Brainerd defenders made big plays all over the field as the Panthers blanked rival Howard 8-0 in a home win Saturday.
A key figure in the shutout at Eddie Lambert Field was senior defensive end Xavier Wood, who had one of Brainerd’s four takeaways and also stepped up to play center on the offensive line after his team had trouble snapping the ball in the first half.
“When you heard us yell we love it on the last defensive stand, that was us being a family,” said Wood, who had seven tackles, a sack and made a heads-up diving play to recover a fumble in the fourth quarter. “We do that at the start of practice, in the middle and the end. We stay positive with it, and that’s a huge thing we try to focus on inside our program.”
With temperatures in the high 90s and little to no shade, Brainerd (1-1) took the top off the Howard defense for the game’s only score with 3:20 left to play in the third quarter.
Panthers quarterback Jeremy Ferguson found his man, Diamond Bates, deep down the right sideline in the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown strike. Bates was also a menace all day on special teams and provided punishing hits.
“Today was kind of tough,” Bates said. “We had to push ourselves and fight through the heat. I feel like we turned it up in the third quarter and found some momentum. Our defense was so crucial. That’s our biggest strength right now.”
Jaylyn Dupree also stood out for the Panthers as he had more than 100 all-purpose yards, not including a spectacular 55-yard run in which he reversed fields to score a touchdown that was called back. He played safety, quarterback, running back and wide receiver, and he scored a 2-point conversion as he ran hard off right tackle carrying a defender into the end zone.
Howard (0-2) threatened late in the game, but Brainerd defensive backs Ethan Brown and Montez Deloney made key interceptions deep inside the red zone.
Brainerd’s Donivon Thomas made the final tackle to secure the win in which he also made an impressive one-handed leaping grab for 26 yards late in the fourth quarter with his team backed up against its own end zone.
“Donivon is a very talented kid,” Brainerd coach Stanley Jackson said. “We need him to make big plays consistently for us. He has a chance to really get some big ACC and SEC offers if he performs and makes plays regularly every Friday night. That was a great catch he made, and we want to see more of those.”
Howard quarterback De’oriean Elder rushed for a game-high 65 yards and also stood out at safety, and Eric McLemore landed his third takeaway of the season with an interception. Jurshuan Toreey flew to the ball for a Hustlin’ Tigers defense that has played well through two games.
After the win, Brainerd’s coach praised Wood for his efforts on both sides of the ball.
“Xavier is a leader who plays his heart out all the time,” Jackson said. “He has a motor and is aggresive. He is a state-qualifying wrestler who’s really worked hard. We just love his energy and effort. He is definitely one of our dogs. We don’t win this game today without great effort on defense. They saved us.”
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.