Faith Baptist Lets Eight-Man Title Slip Away

In a game of big plays, the only turnover Saturday became the biggest play, giving Brentwood High a 35-34 victory over Faith Baptist and a second consecutive Southern Section eight-man football large-division championship.

With one minute to play, Faith Baptist’s Judd Granzow connected with DeWayne Lucas on a 47-yard pass play to the Brentwood 17-yard-line, but as Lucas was tackled by Tyler Neal, the ball came loose and Teddy Moore recovered for the Eagles.

Lucas said his knee hit the ground before the fumble, but the officials disagreed.

“All I know is when I hit the ground, I still had the ball,” Lucas said. “The ball came out after I was down.”

The play climaxed a game in which there were eight lead changes.

Faith Baptist took a 34-29 lead on a one-yard scoring run by Granzow with 5 minutes 1 second left. Granzow was stopped at the one-yard line on a two-point conversion attempt.

Brentwood running back Brian Messing dived in for the winning touchdown from the one-yard line with 1:23 left. Quarterback Chris Malcolm’s pass fell incomplete on the two-point conversion try.

The Contenders (10-2) set the tone with the opening play from scrimmage when Colby Carpenter (nine carries, 112 yards) raced 65 yards for a touchdown.

Brentwood (11-0) responded with a 42-yard touchdown run by Messing three plays later. Messing led the Eagles with 179 yards in 30 carries and scored four times.

After Faith Baptist punted, Chris Malcolm hit Miller on a 36-yard touchdown pass play to give Brentwood a 13-6 lead 2:16 into the game.

The Contenders took a 20-13 lead in the second quarter when Granzow ran 11 yards for a touchdown and threw an 11-yard scoring pass to Rani Zahr. Granzow completed six of 17 for 158 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 23 carries for 87 yards and a touchdown.

Messing’s two 10-yard touchdown runs offset a 57-yard scoring pass play from Granzow to Charlie Misseijer, giving the Eagles a 29-28 lead in the fourth quarter.

Brentwood, which has won 23 consecutive games, handed Faith Baptist a 34-8 setback in the third week of the season.