Brooker stars in Germantown’s win over Southern

For a wideout hoping to make nonstop catches, a quarterback named Revolving Door is not exactly preferred.

"I really don't think about the other things too much," Myles Brooker said. "I'm more concerned with my own situation. If I can make the plays, I'm able to celebrate. If I can't and I know that I was the one who messed up, I'm able to say, 'My fault.' "

Brooker, a 5-11, 155-pound junior, attends Mastery Charter North (a k a the Pickett Campus) at Wayne and Chelten, and plays his football for Germantown High, which is right around the corner from his house.

Thursday, thank you, all went well in a non-league game between non-playoff Class AAAA squads.

The visiting Bears bested Southern, 32-8. Among Brooker's contributions were two catches for 80 yards and a touchdown, an interception, a fumble recovery (on defense, he flops between cornerback and safety), and two open-field tackles that prevented TDs.

His pick set up the game's first TD, a 6-yard run by Ackeno Robertson (11-71). His first catch, a 10-yarder to Southern's 35 on fourth-and-7, led to the second, Jerrell Saunders' 1-yard sneak.

Wait. Back up. That completion, on Saunders' third pass of the afternoon, was quite noteworthy. It made Saunders, who has split the QB duties this year with Hanif Dockery and frosh Cedric Wright, 1-for-27 on the season.

Not easy, right?

"Actually, Jerrell's the life of the team," Brooker said. "Even if every one of us is down, he's not. He's a goofy kid. Always happy. Always joking around.

"In his time away from quarterback, he was playing some tight end and wideout. He's a realist. He knew he was struggling. But when the coaches decided to start him again today, I had a lot of faith in him. He had another chance to prove himself, and look what he did, took us to a nice win. He got away from being prone to mistakes."

Germantown scored the game's first 24 points. The TDs were followed by a safety, as Corey Hinson blocked a punt, and Southern's punter, William Patterson, kicked the ball out of the end zone to prevent a TD.

The Bears' first play after the free kick? Zoooooom! Saunders hit Brooker for a 70-yard score.

"Straight fly pattern," Brooker said, bubbling. "It was just put it out there; go and get it."

Brooker, a rotation member of Mastery's basketball team last winter, originally attended West Catholic. He didn't bother with football last season, but said he turned out this year "because I wanted to prove myself. It's going fine. Now I just have to get in the weight room."

His 14 catches have produced four TDs and 393 yards (28.1 average!). No wonder he likes to call himself "Showtime."

"For a while there," he said, laughing, "the coaches were saying we weren't playing well enough to use nicknames. My dad was saying it, too."

Hinson and Alfredo Williams added fumble recoveries for G-town, and Williams forced one. Will Parks ran 11 times for 53 yards and the final TD. For Southern, Wayne Brunson turned 22 carries into 72 yards (and notched a tackle for a safety), Shakor McClery whipped a scoring pass to Donavan Wilson, and Chris Coffie had an interception (on what initially had the look of another TD catch for Brooker).

"We went into this thinking we'd win. Since they're not a very good team," Brooker said. "But I'm sure they were thinking the same about us." *