WINDSOR
Fans walking into Windsor’s football stadium on Friday night were greeted by a torrential downpour and a scoreboard malfunction that showed the guest with an 80-0 lead before the game had even started. It was clearly not the Dukes’ night, and the Brunswick Bulldogs took advantage of it on their way to a 61-0 win.

“Our kids played with effort,” Windsor head coach Chuck Parrish said. “We have a lot of young kids in spots, but Brunswick is a good football team. We made mistakes and we have to correct them. We knew we had to play well [coming into the game]. I knew No. 6 and No. 23 were their cogs, but we had to execute.”

Windsor entered the game on a high after a win over Northampton the week prior, and quarterback Keshawn Reid was one reason for it. The senior signal caller was the reigning Western Tidewater Player of the Week, and his four-touchdown effort against the Yellow Jackets gave the blue and gold hope for their second-consecutive win.

Reid did not start the game because of what Parrish called a “personnel matter,” and once he was inserted back into the lineup, the Dukes found themselves trailing.

Brunswick halfback Treven Easter got the scoring started with a 4-yard touchdown run on the team’s second drive of the game. Using the hurry-up, triple-option attack, Easter and fullback Ahdarius Jackson only needed eight plays to drive down the field for the touchdown.

“We just have to attack. We still have to continue to do the little things, but no matter what the other team does, we still have to do our fundamentals. Read our keys, tackle, wrap up,” Parrish said. “They knew the things we were going to do and we knew the things they were going to do. We just have to continue to work on the little things.”

Needing a spark on offense, Reid entered the game under center. The drive went nowhere, though, as his third-down pass attempt was nearly intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Brunswick’s Tyke Fisher.

“We have to control the ball. You know, we’d make a play and then we wouldn’t execute the next play or we’d have a penalty,” Parrish said. “We just didn’t put it together. That’s all.”

Easter, an all-purpose threat, took the ensuing punt at midfield and weaved through some missed tackles into Windsor territory. It took only three plays for the Bulldogs to capitalize on the field position, as the halfback took the handoff to the right side and cut back for another score. The drive was capped off with a successful conversion to extend the lead to 16-0.

After a quick three-and-out, the home fans were starting to get restless. That only intensified when Brunswick’s Israel “R.J.” Reavis Jr. returned the punt for a touchdown that was called back when the referee threw a late flag for a block in the back.

“Anytime you get a touchdown called back, you feel like you have a chance to get some stops in there,” Parrish said. “We had some guys there. We just need to finish. We talk about that all the time.”

Nevertheless, Jackson and the Bulldogs punched it in from 11 yards out for the 20-0 lead.

With the offense in neutral, Parrish called upon backup quarterback Devawn Cosbert — who started the game in place of Reid — for one drive. Cosbert moved the team to midfield, and Parrish was ultimately faced with the decision of whether or not to go for it on fourth down with his team’s best field position. When the pass was fell incomplete, the rout was on.

“At that point, we were just trying to get something positive for our team,” Parrish said. “We just wanted to keep our defense off the field some, even though all of our guys play offense. Just get something positive … Just have to complete it.”

Brunswick tacked on three touchdowns, highlighted by a 38-yard fumble return by 295-pound defensive tackle Keyon Booth, to head into halftime with a 40-point halftime lead.

“[We have to] just keep getting better,” Parrish said. “Our kids aren’t going to lay down; we don’t believe in that here. That’s not what we teach our young men. Just play to the next play and win every play in the second half. Win the quarter and win the half. That was our goal.”

No pep talk could rescue the Dukes from the large deficit and running clock, though, as Easter and Jackson continued to pile up the yards and the points. The pair combined for 202 yards rushing and eight touchdowns on the evening, including a pair in the second half.

It wasn’t until there were only 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter that Brunswick — holding a 54-0 lead — decided to play its backups.

“Every coach coaches their team their own way; we coach our kids to play hard every play and finish the game,” Parrish said. “We told our kids to keep playing. We told them after the game, ‘You guys are going to come back and get better because that’s all we know how to do.”

With the loss, Windsor falls to 1-3 on the season. The team hopes to get back on track next week at Sussex Central, who knocked off Southampton on Friday night, 40-0.

“It’s one of those games that we go up there and we, in the past, play better there,” Parrish said. “This one hurts. Anytime you get beat, it hurts. Our guys will bounce back this week and we’ll get ready for Sussex. They got some good athletes, but so do we.”