![FINAL: Houston County [GA] slips past Brookwood [GA], 31-24, on last-second touchdown toss image](https://library.sportingnews.com/styles/crop_style_16_9_mobile_webp/s3/2024-08/High%20School%20Football%20FTR_v2.jpg.webp?itok=WmAv8BhF)
ATLANTA, Georgia, Aug. 16 — Ryan Maxwell found Jase Jordan in the flat for a 17-yard touchdown pass, and the Houston County [Warner Robins] Bears escaped Atlanta with a 31-24 win over the Brookwood [Snellville] Broncos.
The sophomore Maxwell threw two touchdowns, including a 35-yard strike to MJ Mathis in the second quarter. He was solid throughout but showed poised beyond his years on the final drive, leading the Bears into position for the winning play with just seven seconds showing on the clock.
It was a nip-and-tuck affair, but Houston County forced the action all night, leading four times while Brookwood managed to respond each time. It started with Jordan Smith opening the game – and, the season – with a 96-yard kick return for the Bears to give Houston County its first lead just seconds into the game. Brookwood responded with a 24-yard run by quarterback Gary Chatman, and the rhythm of the game was established.
Each time Houston County scored, Brookwood answer with the game eventually tied at 14-all, 17-all, and 24-all before the Bears' late score made it all but impossible for the Broncos to match it one more time.
Houston County moves to 1-0 on the young season, while Brookwood falls to 0-1. Houston County will tangle next Friday with an Effingham County [Springfield] Rebels' squad that was off this weekend.
Brookwood, meanwhile, gets their crosstown Snellville rivals, the Shiloh Generals, who dropped a 14-6 decision to another Snellville outfit, the South Gwinnett Comets.
Let's Go Brookwood! Need a big crowd to help our boys against a very talented Houston County team! See you at The Benz at 1 PM!!! pic.twitter.com/dj0V9m73rA
— Brookwood Athletics (@Bwoodsports) August 16, 2025
Refresh for updates.
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POSTGAME
What a game. It's hard not to look back at the kickoff return that was called back, but it's likely that Houston County still would have answered, based on how the game played out. Brookwood never led, after all, and in the end, it was the kind of game where the winning team just made one more play than the other guys. And they just happened to do it with only seven seconds remaining on the clock.
|| FOURTH QUARTER ||
Houston County QB Ryan Maxwell connects with Jase Jordan on a touchdown pass with 7 seconds remaining. He's just a sophomore, but what a calm, cool, level-headed field general, leading his team down the field for the game-winning score. It's over in Atlanta.
FINAL: HOUSTON COUNTY 31, BROOKWOOD 24
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Inside a minute. Houston County near midfield. Still tied at 24.
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4:02 to play, still tied at 24. Houston County 2nd-and-10 at their own 45.
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A wild, wacky rugby punt by Houston County backfires. It's shanked and then immediately bounces backward to a Brookside player who would have been nowhere near the ball on a normal punt. He picks it up and runs it deep into Houston County territory.
Brayden Tyson then carries it for a touchdown for Brookwood to tie it up again with just over eight minutes to play.
4th Qtr — BROOKWOOD 24, HOUSTON COUNTY 24
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|| THIRD QUARTER ||
Houston County leads heading into the fourth quarter.
END OF THIRD QUARTER — HOUSTON COUNTY 24, BROOKWOOD 17
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Strange call. Brookwood returns the kickoff for a touchdown, but a player for Brookwood lost his helmet. They called a penalty on him for continuing to play after losing the helmet. If you lose your helmet, you can't continue participating in the play, and that cancels out the kickoff return. That could be a big play at the end of this game.
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Colin Anderson breaks free on a long run, and he gives Houston County the lead again at the 3:26 mark of the third quarter.
3rd Qtr — HOUSTON COUNTY 24, BROOKWOOD 17
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Brookwood settles down after their turnover to start the second half. They take their next drive to Houston County's 31 where the drive stalls. But their kicker nails a 48-yarder to tie the game.
3rd Qtr — BROOKWOOD 17, HOUSTON COUNTY 17
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Houston County turns the first turnover of the game by Brookwood into a field goal with 7:44 to play in the third quarter.
3rd Qtr — HOUSTON COUNTY 17, BROOKWOOD 14
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Houston County opens up the third quarter with a big interception in Brookwood's end of the field.
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The third quarter is under way in Atlanta.
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|| SECOND QUARTER ||
Brookwood finally pulls even again on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Chatman to Bryce Green. We're all even again in Atlanta with less than a minute to play before halftime. The score is even, and it's very much a reflection of how this game has unfolded. There doesn't seem to be much from a talent-perspective separating these two teams.
2nd Qtr — BROOKWOOD 14, HOUSTON COUNTY 14
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Houston County strikes from 35 yards out to get the second quarter started. Ryan Maxwell to MJ Mathis.
2nd Qtr — HOUSTON COUNTY 14, BROOKWOOD 7
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|| FIRST QUARTER ||
So, after the fast start, things have really slowed down. That's the end of the first quarter
END OF FIRST QUARTER — BROOKWOOD 7, HOUSTON COUNTY 7
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Houston County drives the field before stalling, but then shanks a field goal. We're still even at 7 with 4:44 to play in the opening stanza.
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A reminder, too, if you're wanting to tune into the stream for today's game, we've got the details here. Of course, you can continue to follow along here, too. NFHS Network is handling the webcast, and they've got a first-class stream with a first-class team handling the play-by-play and color today.
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We want you to keep in mind we've got more football later today from the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic in Atlanta. Walton-McEachern is up next, and then North Gwinnett-Douglas County in the nightcap.
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Brookwood is unfazed by by Houston County's electrifying 2025 bow. They march right down the field and answer with a touchdown on a beautiful juke by Gary Chatman on a 24-yard touchdown run. It's the capper to a 7-play, 72-yard drive. We're back to even just two-and-a-half minutes into this thing.
1st Qtr — BROOKWOOD 7, HOUSTON COUNTY 7
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Just a side note of interest. Houston County is not pronounced like the city of Houston in Texas ... which is HEW-stən. Houston County is pronounced HOW-stən. There's the answer to your trivia question of the day.
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We're under way! And what a way to start. The biggest star in the game, Jordan Smith, takes the opening kick 96 yards to the house to put Houston County up on the first play of the season.
1st Qtr — HOUSTON COUNTY 7, BROOKWOOD 0
|| PREGAME ||
Scroll down to enjoy some of our content below and take a look back at the Grayson Rams' big win over Collins Hill last night just a few miles east of today's games in downtown Atlanta.
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KEYS TO THE GAME ...
One of the big keys in today's game is the environment. These kids don't get to play in an NFL stadium very often, so just not being overwhelmed by the whole experience. Season openers are big games, but sometimes they feel even bigger than they are. Most of the time they are non-conference affairs against teams from different classifications like this game, and they're not going to make or break your season.
But you still have to get your emotions under control playing in a facility like this, and that will be a challenge for these head coaches from the start.
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MAJOR STORYLINES ...
One of the biggest storylines today is that Brookwood will be making its official season debut under new head coach Chad Nighbert, the Broncos' former defensive coordinator. He actually served as the interim head coach last year, however, from the third week of the season through the playoffs when former head coach Philip Jones took a leave due to health reasons. But this is still officially the beginning of a new era.
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TEAM INFO ...
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There will be a lot of high level talent on the field this afternoon for both squads. Brookwood has three ranked upperclassmen on 247sports.com's Classes of 2026 and 2027. Houston County has four. The top-ranked player on the field will be Houston County safety Jordan Smith, a 4-star defender who has committed to the Georgia Bulldogs.
Brookwood's top-ranked player is CB Kris Brunson who is committed to the Louisville Cardinals.
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SETTING THE SCENE ...
Brookwood High School is in Snellville less than 10 miles from Grayson High School which played in the game we live-blogged here last night. Both of them are less than a half hour from Collins Hill High School in Suwanee which hosted last night's game and about the same general time/distance to Buford High School, the site of our Thursday night game here.
This is one of the richest areas in the country for high school football. And if Texas is No. 1 when it comes to your average football scene on a Friday night, Georgia is a close second. California and Florida have great high school football teams, and certain schools and towns in those states are rabid about their football. But it doesn't feel as deeply ingrained in the culture as it does to me in Texas and Georgia. And this particular little area in northeast metro Atlanta seems particularly rabid about its football. Just witness that new $62 million football stadium in Buford that opened Thursday night:
Wow: Buford High School in Georgia has officially opened its new $62 MILLION football stadium.
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) July 30, 2025
• 10,000 seats
• 15 luxury suites
• 3,500 sqft video scoreboard
• Two-story fieldhouse with locker rooms
This is nicer than many college football stadiums.
🤯🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/wQRsBRS3nz
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We are inside 30 minutes to kickoff so we'll start taking a look at some of the info relevant to today's Brookwood-Houston County game.
First things first, we don't have to worry about the weather today. This game is being played indoors at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta. Friday night's games in the greater Atlanta area were delayed in many cases due to the weather passing through. The start of Grayson's game at Collins Hill was delayed for nearly two-and-a-half hours. I'm not sure if that figured into the sluggish start for Collins Hill and the early mental errors (like jumping offsides on the first two plays of the game to give Grayson its initial first down). That could have just as easily been opening night jitters.
But, either way, it was clear that one team (Grayson) was ready after the long delay and one team (Collins Hill) wasn't. We don't have weather as a factor today so that's a good thing. We can just focus on football today.
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TOP 25 AND THE GAME OF THE WEEK ...
While you're getting ready for this afternoon's big game, get yourself up to speed on the preseason edition of The Sporting News High School Football Top 25.
Then check out our TSN Game of the Week Recap featuring the No. 14 Milton (GA) Eagles at the No. 12 Buford (GA) Wolves from Thursday night.
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MORE GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL ...
We've also got reports on some of Georgia's top returning players by position groups here:
Georgia's best linebackers in 2025 headlined by five-star recruits at Gainesville, Grayson
Georgia's top 20 receivers heading into 2025 include four future Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia's top high school football running backs in 2025 led by Georgia, Notre Dame commits
Grayson star tops list of Georgia high school football's best quarterbacks in 2025
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OUR PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA TEAMS ...
Finally, don't miss out on The Sporting News Preseason All-American Teams that just debuted today!
The Sporting News High School Preseason All-American Offense 2025
The Sporting News High School Preseason All-American Defense 2025
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We'll check back in here in a while with a look at some more storylines.
MORE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL HEADLINES ...
Here are the top 20 quarterbacks to watch in West Texas for ’25 season
Battle of Texas defending state champs shifts location to nearby 10,000-seat stadium
Here are the top 20 quarterbacks to watch in South Texas for '25 season