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Halfway through the season, Brookfield sat at 3-2, having lost two of its last three games in frustrating fashion. But now, more than a month later, the Warriors are 7-2 and have a chance to snag the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference (MVAC) Grey Tier title in their regular-season finale.
"Everybody [is] playing together and being unselfish, and having real good sportsmanship and being good teammates to each other," Brookfield head coach Randy Clark said. "Them playing for each other has been the key the last four weeks or so."
In Week 3, the Warriors went on the road and came back home with a disappointing 7-6 loss to Toronto. Brookfield has not scored fewer points in a game before or since.
"They’re a good team and everything, but that’s a game that we kind of gave away," Clark said. "We didn’t have Rico [Smith]. We didn’t have Blake [Hammond] for that game. We played well from the 20 to the 20, but we just couldn’t get inside the end zone once we got down in there. But overall, I think we grew from that. A lot of kids grew up and realized that they got to rely on each other and work together."
After shellacking Champion the following week, the Warriors then returned home to host league rival Liberty. The game, featuring two of the top teams in the MVAC, began well for Brookfield, which scored early to take an 8-0 lead.
However, several costly penalties and a few big plays for Liberty late resulted in a 28-8 loss, after which Clark said his team needed to "do a better job of facing adversity."
"We get punched in the mouth, and sometimes if things ain’t going our way, we just don’t punch them back," Clark said then.
Since that Sept. 18 loss, the Warriors are undefeated, winning their last four games by an average margin of 22 points.
That streak will be put to the test this week in potentially Brookfield's toughest and most unique test of the season, as 9-0 Garrettsville Garfield comes to town. The G-Men, after an 11-point win against Warren JFK to open the season, have blown out every opponent since, scoring 43 points per game and allowing just 8 points per game in that span.
"They don’t do a whole lot wrong," Clark said of Garfield. "They’re disciplined, they’re fundamentally sound, very, very well-coached. They do a lot of things that everybody wishes their team did. ... They’re a good team year in, year out. I'd like to know how they do it too."
Part of the challenge of facing Garfield is its old-school, single-wing offense, which averages 351 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns per game.
"They run a tough offense, an offense that you see once a year," Clark said. "It’s hard to duplicate in practice, that’s for sure. ... On defense, you got to be very disciplined. If you start running all over the place like a chicken with your head cut off, it’s not going to be good. You got to take care of your own responsibility. Do your job, and things will work out. There’s a lot of eye candy, a lot of backfield stuff going on, but if you’re watching that, you’re in the wrong place, believe me."
If the Warriors manage to beat Garfield, they would likely force a three-way tie for the league championship between themselves, the G-Men and Liberty, which plays Southeast in its season finale.
The win would not only fit the night of celebration - after two weeks on the road, Brookfield is hosting its senior night and Hall of Fame induction ceremony Friday - but it would also be a crowning moment for a senior class that has not won a playoff game or league title and did not earn a winning season in its first three years.
"I’m proud of them," Clark said. "The way they fought the last three years, and the way they came back. This year, they grew together, and they did a wonderful job. All of them. All nine of them were outstanding for us this year."