At the south end of Clay Jordan Stadium, the Pepsi scoreboard told the story as the final score stood Brantley 49, Highland Home 16.

With the 32 point win, the Bulldogs did nothing to disprove their number one ranking in the AHSAA 1A classification, as they notched their 5th victory in 5 games of the 2006 season.

Brantley's high powered offense was led by a stable of running backs as the talented group grounded out over 500 yards of rushing offense.

The Big Dog of the bunch was James Pittman, who gained 168 yards on 9 carries and two touchdowns.

His backfield buddies, Chris Booker and Jeffery Daniels each chipped in over 100 yards rushing in the game.

After receiving the opening kickoff, the Wing T offense of Highland Home moved the ball down to the Bulldog 32 yard line in 9 plays. Dog

line backer Landon Morgan picked off a Deymond Sankey pass attempt and returned it to the Dogs' 39 yard line.

Brantley moved 61 yards in 3 plays with James Pittman covering the final 51 yards as he streaked down the right sideline into the Squadron end zone with 6:45 showing on the clock.

Maurice Owens' PAT kick was no good, as the visiting Bulldogs went up 6 – 0 over the home team.

QB Jonathan Helms hit his tight-end on a 14 yard scoring pass on a 3rd down and 6 play.

With 1:55 to go in quarter number one, the PAT play for two points was successful as the Dogs increased their advantage to 14 – 0.

Unable to move the ball out from the shadow of their own goal post, the Dogs were in punt formation on a 4th down play, when a bad center snap sailed out of the end zone to give the Squadron 2 points and closed out the 1st half scoring.

Leading 14 – 2, the Bulldogs tallied their 3rd score of the night when kick returner James Pittman rambled 72 yards to pay dirt with the 2nd half kickoff.

Owens' PAT was true as the Dogs went up 21 – 2 with 11:42 left in the 3rd quarter.

The Dogs moved 38 yards in 3 plays as running back Jeffrey Daniels galloped 30 yards for Brantley's 4th touchdown of the game.

Trailing 28 – 2 after Maurice Owens' PAT kick with 9:09 to go in the 3rd quarter, the Highland Home offense got on track as they drove 71 yards in 8 plays for their 1st touchdown of the game.

The scoring play came on a 41 yard pass from QB Sankey to wide out Carnell Bryant, as the Bulldog defense gave up their 1st touchdown of the 2006 gridiron season.

The Highland Home run for two points on the PAT was good, as they cut into the Bulldog lead 28 – 10 with 6:10 on the clock.

Daniels placed his name in the Bulldog scoring column for the 2nd time in the game, as he scored from 12 yards out with 5:25 to go in the quarter.

Down 35 – 10 to start the 4th and final quarter, the Squadron cut into the Dogs' lead 35 – 16 as they thrashed their way into the Brantley end zone on a 10 play, 53 yard drive, as QB Deymond Sankey scored on a 3rd and goal call from 4 yards out.

The South Crenshaw County Dogs closed out the scoring in the last 6:35 of the game as they tacked on 2 late touchdowns to make the final margin Brantley 49, Highland Home 16.

After the game, both coaching staffs had nothing but praise for both squads, as the Bulldog staff was impressed with the determination and the way the young men in blue never gave up in the 5 touchdown loss.

They also stated that the turning point of the ball game came when James Pittman raced 72 yards with the 2nd half kickoff.

On the Highland Home side, the coaching staff also stated how pleased they were on the fight and &#8220never say die” attitude the Squadron displayed during the game.

Squadron offensive Coach Johnny Mitchell stated that from top to bottom this Brantley team was as good as any 1A, 2A or 3A team in South Alabama.

&#8220If our attitude and our eagerness to play ball was as good as it was against Brantley, I guarantee a win against Luverne,” Mitchell said.

In their 1st three wins of the 2006 season, Highland Home turned the ball over only 2 times.

In their last two games, they have turned the ball over 10 times, which in return has played a key role in their 2 defeats.

The Highland Home offensive unit was led by Junior QB Deymond Sankey, as he had 119 yards rushing on 16 carries and 1 touchdown.

He also had 149 yards passing, going 7 for 19 with one touchdown and 5 interceptions from his quarterback spot.

The Squadron hits the road this week as they travel to Luverne to take on the 5 and 0 number 10 ranked Tigers.