varsity.roanoke.com

MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Michael Leeman (right) of Brookville bats the ball away from Ryan Bowden of Northside during the Vikings' win on Friday.

Photos by MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Deshon Foxx (2) of Brookville fumbles as Northside's Dakota Jackson moves in during the Vikings' win on Friday.

Brookville's Kendal Becraft (17) is sacked by Northside's Marque Johnson during the fouth quarter on Friday. The Vikings had four second-half sacks after Becraft passed for 201 yards in the first half.

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There was plenty of negativity Friday night at Northside High School.

Most of it was in the column reserved for Brookville's rushing yardage.

Northside's defense held Brookville to minus-56 yards on the ground and kept the Bees off the scoreboard in the final three quarters as the Vikings scored a 21-13 victory in a Region III Division 3 semifinal.

The win moved Northside (9-2) into next week's championship against either Liberty or R.E. Lee-Staunton, just the second appearance in a regional final in school history.

Brookville (9-3) jumped on Northside for a 13-0 lead less than eight minutes into the game and held the Vikings without a first down on their first three series.

Facing elimination, Northside responded with two touchdown runs by Dustin Phelps and one by Philip Scott, while the defense held the Bees to negative-8 yards of total offense in the second half.

"We went in the locker room and said a few things and got the team hyped up and came out in the second half with a bang," Phelps said. "We were ready."

Northside's sideline remained very calm during the early deficit.

"I knew the resiliency of our kids," Northside coach Burt Torrence said. "I knew that they would never quit. I knew they wanted this game more than anything. They prepared like it. I knew it was just a matter of time before we made some plays."

Brookville made all the plays in the first quarter as 14-year-old freshman quarterback Kendal Becraft hit Alec Thompson on touchdown passes of 62 and 11 yards.

Becraft had 201 passing yards by halftime, forcing Northside to go to the drawing board.

The result was a defensive effort that blanketed Brookville's receivers and produced four second-half quarterback sacks, including three in a row on one series by Trent Cundiff, Dakota Jackson and Marque Johnson.

"We couldn't get anything going up front," Brookville coach Jeff Woody said. "They were sitting back on the pass and we couldn't run it. Give credit to them."

Northside's defense set up both second-half touchdowns after Phelps had scored on a 21-yard run late in the first half.

After Brookville stopped Northside at the 1-yard line on fourth down early in the third quarter, the Vikings immediately got the ball back when Becraft and Deshon Foxx missed connections on a handoff and Adam Hardister recovered at the 4.

Phelps scored on the next play, and Sean Joyner's PAT made it 14-13.

"I saw him hand off to him. I wasn't sure if he got it in his hands or not," Hardister said. "I saw the ball come out and just fell on it.

"It pretty much changed the game. We got the ball and scored."

Northside forced another turnover on the next series when Donovohn Brown picked off Becraft's pass for Thompson and returned it 29 yards to Brookville's 41.

"On the pick, our middle linebacker Nick Sigmon looked at me and he was like, 'Don, make a play,' " Brown said. "We were in cover-three. I saw the quarterback looking right at him and I just broke on the ball."

Eight plays later, Scott scored on a 3-yard run for a 21-13 lead. Brookville held Scott, who set a single-season school rushing record, to 68 yards, but Phelps picked up 106 yards on 21 carries running behind Sigmon and 340-pound right tackle Cameron Carter.

"Big Cam and Nick on the right side," Phelps said. "They were making holes. I was just fitting through them. We just steamrolled them pretty much."

If R.E. Lee upsets Liberty tonight, next week's regional final would be at Northside. Otherwise, the Vikings have played their final home game.

"That's OK," Torrence said. "One at a time ... anywhere."

Brookville 13 0 0 0--13

Northside 0 7 14 0--21

Brk -- Thompson 62 pass from Becraft (kick failed)

Brk -- Thompson 11 pass from Becraft (Wood kick)

N -- Phelps 21 run (Joyner kick)

N -- Phelps 4 run (Joyner kick)

N -- Scott 3 run (Joyner kick)

BO NO

First downs 11 14

Yards rushing 19-(-56) 47-192

Passes C-A-I 14-26-1 3-10-0

Yards passing 237 74

Penalties-yards 5-40 5-58

Fumbles-lost 4-2 2-0

Punts-average 6-45.2 6-31.3

Individual statistics

RUSHING -- Brookville, Carwile 1-3, Smith 2-2, Foxx 9-(-6), Becraft 7-(-55). Northside, Phelps 21-106, Scott 18-68, Bowden 2-14, Fisher 3-6, Keith 1-2, Team 2-(-4).

PASSING -- Brookville, Becraft, 14-24-1-237, Thompson 0-2-0-0. Northside, Keith 3-10-0-74.

RECEIVING -- Brookville, 6-48, Thompson 4-138, Walker 3-46, Foxx 1-15. Northside, Phelps 1-33, Scott 1-21, Jackson 1-17.