Brookville Bees, William Campbell Generals eager to renew Campbell County rivalry

Brookville’s Jeff Woody and William Campbell first-year coach Dwayne Hamlette both played football for their respective schools in the mid-1990s, when the two teams met regularly.

“It’s good to have a coach at his alma mater because his blood runs deep in that community,” said Hamlette, who played on the line for the Generals while Woody was a record-setting wide receiver for the Bees. “It’s usually a coach who’s excited to give something back to the school he played for and loves.”

For the first time since 2000, the Campbell County foes will face off in a regular-season contest, tonight at 7 at Stinger Stadium.

The renewal of the rivalry between two of the area’s top-rated teams has the Bees buzzing and the Generals preparing for battle.

“They have a strong tradition of football there, as we have here, and we’re excited about the opportunity to play them,” Hamlette said. “It’s good for the teams to play each other again. It’s huge for the county and the area. It’ll be two great football teams banging heads (tonight).”

He anticipates a playoff-type of atmosphere and a conflict of the same caliber.

“That is why we wanted to schedule this type of game to get battle-tested for the playoffs,” Hamlette said.

Woody expects the Generals to provide them an equally tough test.

“They’re a hard-nosed, physical football team and they fly around,” he said. “We’ve got our hands full, that’s for sure. Even though it’s a single-A football team, they’ve got skills.”

Woody is wary of William Campbell’s spread formation, a set the Bees employ at times, too.

“They have a potent offense and a fast quarterback who can run and throw,” he said of Brandon “BeBe” Adams, who ran for more than 200 yards and scored four touchdowns in last week’s 60-20 rout of Cumberland. “He’s almost like a tailback back there. We faced that last year in the state championship game (in a 50-46 loss to William Monroe). They have a lot of speed and skill, and it’s only going to make us better in the long haul.”

Hamlette said the Bees’ defense matches up well with the Generals’ run-and-gun attack.

“They have speed on the edge with defensive end Zack McCray a big, strong kid, No. 25 (Michael Leeman) and Zack Burns, a heckuva middle linebacker,” Hamlette said. “I hope we can match their intensity.”

He is at least as concerned about the offensive weapons Brookville boasts.

“I’m scared to death of their offense,” Hamlette said. “They’re big up front, they have a quarterback in (Alec) Thompson who can roll out and throw. We just hope to contain them.”

In last week’s season-opening 27-14 win over Martinsville, the Bees used their special teams to get on the scoreboard, on Cameron McKenzie’s game-tying 100-yard first-quarter kickoff return, seconds after Jarez Turner scored the Bulldogs’ first touchdown on a 62-yard pass play.

Brookville will start Thompson at quarterback, though he may again move out to receiver, as he did in the fourth quarter against Martinsville.

“We have some versatility on offense,” said Woody, who plans to platoon Jeff Maxwell in behind center and also has three options at tailback.

Ben Simmons, who has recovered from an ACL tear in the state championship game, gained 153 yards on 26 carries last week. This week, he’ll be backed up by Deshon Foxx and sophomore Michael Carwile.

Foxx returns from a dislocated left wrist suffered in the Bees’ first scrimmage to start at defensive back, and will be a “mover and shaker for us at tailback,” Woody said.