Brogan's 4 TDs lift Spartans to win, region title
MOUNTAIN BROOK – After the first drive of the game, Chris Yeager thought his Mountain Brook High School football team would need to adjust its game plan.
Homewood drove down the field on its opening possession, chewing nearly nine minutes off the clock. But Mountain Brook’s defense held strong in the red zone, then the Spartans blocked a field goal and took control of the game.
Mountain Brook rode an otherwise dominant defensive performance and four rushing touchdowns from Michael Brogan en route to a 28-0 win over Homewood on Thursday night at Spartan Stadium in a Class 6A, Region 5 matchup.
“[Homewood] did a great job,” said Yeager, the Spartans head coach, following the game. “After that first drive, I thought we were going to have the ball four times the whole game."
Mountain Brook (7-1, 5-0 in region) allowed 58 yards on Homewood’s (5-3, 3-2) opening drive, then surrendered just 47 more the rest of the night.
“We controlled the line of scrimmage,” Yeager said.
Yeager’s comment was directed toward the offensive side of the ball as well, as the Spartans were physical at the point of attack the whole night. They piled up 208 rushing yards, with Brogan leading the way with 107 yards and four scores on 24 carries.
“The holes were there,” Brogan said. “It’s so much fun running behind them [the offensive line]. We really pride ourselves on being physical and dominating the person in front of us.”
Following a scoreless first quarter, Homewood’s Blake Bunshaw intercepted Mountain Brook backup quarterback John Colvin on the first play of the second quarter. Four plays later, Trent Wright intercepted a Woods Ray pass to give the ball back to the Spartans.
That’s when Brogan found the end zone for the first time, plunging in from 1 yard out to make it 7-0, a score that would hold until halftime.
Mountain Brook took the ball to begin the third quarter and drove 69 yards in eight plays, the final one being a 5-yard run by Brogan. The running back wrapped up his night with touchdown runs of 14 and 7 yards in the fourth quarter.
Colvin quarterbacked the Spartans for the first time, before starting signal caller Strother Gibbs entered the game for the final two quarters. Gibbs went 3-of-4 passing for 54 yards and ran for 39 yards. Jake Thompson caught five balls for 19 yards and Sims Brown had a 32-yard grab.
For Homewood, Ray was 8-of-12 passing for 56 yards, with Len Irvine catching three passes for 21 yards.
With the win, Mountain Brook locked up the Region 5 crown, the Spartans first region title since 2011. Yeager is not satisfied with that.
“For a region title, you get a T-shirt,” he said. “We’re aiming for more than that. Hopefully we can do that if we keep improving.”
Next Friday, both teams wrap up region play at home. Mountain Brook hosts Chelsea while Homewood takes on Briarwood.
Click here to view and purchase photos form the game.