On the final “Football Friday” for Washington County teams in 2021, the Brentwood War Eagles closed out their campaign in style. They defeated the Terrell Eagles of Dawson, Georgia by a score of 37-28 to win the GISA AA State Championship.
This is Brentwood’s first football State Title since repeating as champs in 2002 and 2003. The win on Friday snapped an 18-year drought for local football teams taking home their state classification’s top prize.
Brentwood finalizes their season with an overall record of 11 wins, 1 loss. The War Eagles tie their 2002 State Championship run record for wins in a singular season. They also set a new mark for fewest losses in a season since joining the Georgia Independent Schools Association in 1986. The previous low was 3 losses.
It was a record setting campaign for the War Eagles, who also broke their 2019 record for highest points per game (PPG) total. Brentwood scored 41.25 PPG while allowing only 16.9 PPG. The average margin of victory by 24.35 is the largest in their GISA history.
Brentwood, who entered the GISA AA State Tournament as the #1 overall seed, defeated the #2 Terrell Eagles in a “battle of the birds” to decide who would assume prominence in a classification that had seen the Gatewood Gators of Eatonton win for the past 3 years. The Gators defeated Brentwood for the 2020 Championship before the War Eagles snapped an 8-game losing skid versus Gatewood, removing the “gator-sized-monkey off their backs” with a pair of wins this season by 29 and 31 points. Brentwood has not lost to a team outside of Gatewood and John Milledge in over 1,100 days.
The one sole blemish on the War Eagles record belongs to the John Milledge Trojans of Milledgeville, who defeated Brentwood in the 2021 season opener on August 27. Those Trojans were also in competition on Friday, December 3, as they followed the Brentwood win by claiming their third consecutive GISA AAA State Championship with a 21-0 win over Pinewood of Bellville, Georgia. The day’s opening championship contest saw the Thomas Jefferson Jaguars of Louisville win a third straight GISA A crown by defeating the Piedmont Cougars of Monticello. Thomas Jefferson’s only loss this season was a 41-20 loss to Brentwood on September 17.
By claiming their crown, the War Eagles now assume their rightful spot atop the AA classification, a familiar place for Brentwood and their Head Coach Bert Brown.
Since assuming the duties in the Fall of 2000, Bert Brown has accumulated 160 wins, 6 Region Titles, and 3 State Championships. He has led the War Eagles into the State Tournament in all of his 22 seasons as Head Coach, resulting in 12 Quarterfinals trips, 10 Semifinals appearances, and 5 Championship games.
The matchup between Brentwood and Terrell saw Coach Brown match wits with another one of the state of Georgia’s premier head football coaches in Bill Murdock. Coach Murdock ranks third in career wins among active coaches in GHSA and GISA over his 33 seasons at Terrell and Southwest Georgia in Damascus. With the win, Brown moves to 3-0 over Murdock, which includes a Brentwood win over Southwest Georgia in 2003 for his most prior State Championship.
Brentwood School opens up their 2021-2022 school year with a State Title in the marquee sport of football, a win that will certainly assist in the school’s pursuit of wining the GISA AA Michael Drake Award for the third straight year. The “Drake” is bestowed upon the school that accumulates the most points over a school year. Points are dished out among finishing positions in various sporting events. Brentwood has won the Michael Drake award 5 times.
The championship obviously pleases Brentwood Athletic Director Adam Lord, who also serves as the football team’s defensive coordinator. The War Eagles offensive coordinator in the record setting offensive season is Jamie Dickey, a former Brentwood player himself that led Brentwood to the State Title as the team’s quarterback in 2003.
Brentwood’s 2021 team will graduate 5 Seniors: Thomas Denton, Will Wright, Robert Jackson, Drew Johnson, and Jackson Collins. Each player served as critical members of both the offensive and defensive units. Jackson passed for over 1,300 yards as the Eagles quarterback. Denton rushed for over 1,200 yards for the second consecutive season, including 137 yards and 1 touchdown in the Championship Game.
It was a game that featured a full team-wide effort from the “Boys in Blue.” The defense held GISA AA’s #1 offense two touchdowns under their per game average. That same unit forced 4 turnovers: a fumble and three interceptions. The fumble was recovered by Wells Muller, a Junior, who also added the game’s opening score of a 75 yard TD rush on the Eagles first offensive play to his highlight reel. The interceptions were all made by Seniors – Will Wright, Thomas Denton, and Drew Johnson. Wright also caught 2 passes for 130 yards and a 75 yard touchdown.
In a game that saw 62 combined offensive points in the first 3 quarters, defense reigned supreme in the final quarter as Brentwood pitched a shutout in the 4th, while also adding a key field goal with 3 minutes, 25 seconds remaining to make it a two-possession ballgame. The three-pointer came off the right foot of freshman Christian Rountree, who made his clutch 27 yard FG attempt.
“Eagle Nation” packed the bleachers alongside Anderson Field at Five Star Stadium on the campus of Mercer University in Macon on Friday. The Brentwood crowd, both loud and proud, was honored by multiple media outlets as their “Fans of the Week.” One member of the Eagle crowd made a few more headlines than the rest, though. County music singing superstar and American Idol judge Luke Bryan was in attendance while pacing the Brentwood sideline. He also served as “honorary coin-flipper” before the opening kick. It is worth noting that Brentwood won the coin flip, as well. They opted to start the Championship Game on offense, and as previously mentioned, scored on their opening play. Bryan’s wife, Caroline, is a Brentwood School graduate and Sandersville native.
In what was only the third Brentwood football game ever played in the month December, the War Eagles reigned supreme and saw themselves solidify their legacy among the all-time elite. The 2021 rendition of the squad will now forever and for always be remembered as State Champions.
As chanted after every win, but a little louder on this Friday night in Macon, Georgia…..
“It’s Great To Be A Brentwood Eagle!”
