ENGLAND -- Brayden Brazeal and his England teammates don't like to play from behind.
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Brazeal, a 6-0 senior quarterback, ran for three touchdowns, threw for two more and intercepted a pass and the Lions scored the game's final 29 points in a 50-22 victory over the Earle Bulldogs in a Class 2A quarterfinal game on a foggy Friday night at Lions Stadium.
Brazeal scored on runs of 1, 10 and 4 yards as the Lions (13-0) advanced to play at Hampton in next week's semifinals.
Earle (9-4) had taken a 22-21 lead 24 seconds into the second half when junior quarterback Gerry Bohanon hit senior wide receiver Dontrell Johnson for a 62-yard pass down the left sideline, but England responded with two touchdowns before the Bulldogs got the ball back.
"We've been in that position before but obviously not that often," England Coach Terry Farmer of the Lions being behind. "Our kids believe in themselves. They believe in what we do. ... We tried to bounce right back. That was a good football team we played."
England scored the game's first two touchdowns and led 21-16 at halftime, but Bohanon and Johnson connected for their third touchdown of game with 11:36 remaining in the third quarter as the Bulldogs surged ahead 22-21.
Brazeal responded by guiding the Lions on a nine-play, 53-yard drive that he capped with his 10-yard run with 7:42 left in the third quarter. After senior Marc Westbrook caught a two-point conversion, England led 29-22.
"That was big," Brazeal said of the Lions' response. "Earle had taken the confidence away from us and we had to do something about it."
Brazeal completed 12 of 20 passes for 208 yards, throwing touchdown passes of 53 and 45 yards to junior receiver Darrius Clarkson, who finished with 5 receptions for 140 yards.
"They came out and hit us in the mouth," Farmer said. "We didn't match their intensity. But we got some breaks. We got lucky with a few things. Once we got the ball rolling, our kids starting playing physical football."
On the ensuing kickoff, England junior Darquarius Moore recovered an Earle fumble -- one of four Bulldog turnovers -- and England started a five-play, 50-yard scoring drive that took the remaining air out of Earle.
"That was huge," Brazeal said of Moore's fumble recovery.
"That was a big momentum-changer," Farmer said.
Senior running back Malik Coleman, who finished with 158 yards rushing on 26 carries, scored on an 8-yard run and on a two-point conversion run with 6:30 left in the third quarter to increase England's lead to 37-22. Coleman also had a 12-yard scoring run on England's game-opening drive.
After Bohanon and Johnson connected for their final touchdown, Earle managed only two more first downs -- both of those coming on the Bulldogs' final drive. England ran 38 offensive plays in the second half; Earle ran 21. The Bulldogs were also flagged seven times in the final two quarters for 57 yards.
Bohanon and Johnson connected for three TD passes -- 30, 30 and 62 yards. Bohanon was 8 of 22 for 222 yards. Johnson caught five passes for 137 yards.
Earle was limited to 111 yards rushing a week after the Bulldogs had rolled up more than 250 yards on the ground against Murfreesboro.
On Friday, Bohanon was held to 60 yards on 14 carries.
"In any program, you have to stop the run first," Farmer said. "If you can't stop the run, then you're in trouble. They got some good passes on us. But continually stopping the run really helped us."
Sports on 11/26/2016