By Staff
Lindsay Vaught, Enquirer Correspondant
TRINITY – Brewer showed off a new offense in two quarters of play in a jamboree game last Thursday and came away with an impressive 17-7 win.
Samuel Mason gave a little hint of the new passing game when he hit Travis Boyd on a 32-yard pass on the games' first play. Then tailback Joseph Burton crashed through Tanners defense for a 16-yard run and Mason finished the drive hitting Markus Greenleaf on a 12-yard touchdown pass. Burton would later score on a 3-yard run which capped a 95-yard time-consuming drive late in the second quarter. Sandwiched between the two touchdowns, Blade Crawford booted a 32-yard field goal after Doug Webster converted a fourth and four to keep a drive alive. Mason went the whole way at quarterback completing 5 of 7 passes for 78 yards.
Burton was the star of the game rushing 9 times for 81 yards.
"We ran basic plays mostly up the middle and off tackle, the line blocked well," said Burton, a sophomore who will get his first start against Ft. Payne tonight in the season opener. "This little win feels great, it's motivated us. Ft. Payne has got a good team but I'm ready to run the ball against them. I think we can come out with a win."
The defense displayed a bend but don't break mentality. Twice, Tanner drove inside the 10-yard line only to be held on downs. Brewer held Tanner's big back Rashard Lankford in check most of the night, thanks to a lot of gang tackling. Jimmy Thompson caused a fumble on Tanners last drive and David Dean recovered. Doug Webster had a big night on defense with several good hits from his cornerback position.
Head Coach Robert Peppers was pleased, especially with the offense. "Sam threw the ball well. He picked up his reads well. We had a couple of passes dropped," said Peppers. "Joseph ran hard. If we can keep him healthy he's going to be a good player. He wants to run over everybody and he needs to learn to sidestep a few and break off some big runs."
Playing the final match of the evening, the players had to wait in the heat and humidity for over two hours, much of that time in pads. It seemed to have an effect on them. "We only played a half and our guys were dead," said Peppers.