Braves Blast Blue Devils to Claim #2 Seed

(Franklin) — The Brave Nation celebrated Senior Night with a huge 49-20 win over the visiting Bremen Blue Devils Friday night at Staples Stadium to claim the number two seed in Region 5-AA and the opportunity to host at least one more home game next week.

Coach Barron’s squad broke open a close game in the second half outscoring the Devils 28-3 in the final two quarters after a first half which saw Bremen battle back from a 21-7 deficit after the opening quarter and close the gap to 21-17 at the break.

Senior running back Duranta Dunson had a huge night on both sides of the ball and appears to be on his way back to top form after his early season collarbone injury.

Senior Braves Justin Whitten (#54), Zack Stephens (#1), and Duranta Dunson

Dunson rushed for 305 yards on 21 carries with four touchdowns on offense for the night while snagging a big third quarter interception and making seven tackles on defense.

The 305 yards gives Dunson 1227 yards on the season, the fourth consecutive year he reached the 1000 yard mark. His career total now stands at 6278 yards.

Junior Austin Barron also had a big night scoring two touchdowns and gaining 119 yards on just six rushes. The majority of Barron’s yardage came via the two scores from 47 and 55 yards away.

Freshman quarterback Emory Jones also rushed for 65 yards on just two tries while completing 4-of-7 passing attempts with one 20-yard TD pass to Elijah Toney in the third quarter.

The Brave offensive line was crucial in the win as they controlled the line of scrimmage most of the night led by seniors Levi Brown and Justin Whitten, juniors Andrew Cannon, Jacob Bishop, and Hunter Lane, along with sophomore center Conner Moon and the senior tight end Toney.

Junior Matt Brown continued his stellar play to lead the Braves defense which shut down the Devils for much of the night allowing only one offensive touchdown. Brown tallied double-digit tackles for the third consecutive game. The other Devil points came on a kick return and two field goals.

Senior tackle Levi Brown also had one carry on offense late in the game. After pleading with his coaches for four years, the big lineman and Marshall commit made the most of his one carry, barreling ahead for 13 yards and a first down. Kicker Trey Wiggins was a perfect 7-for-7 on his extra-point attempts.

The Braves (5-5 overall; 4-1 in Region 5-AA) will now host the Wesleyan Wolves (6-4 overall; 4-3 in Region 6-AA) in the first round of the state playoffs next Friday night at 7:30.

If the Braves can get past the Wolves, they would advance to take on the winner of  Screven County (Region 3-AA) and Monticello (Region 4-AA).