QUITMAN — The 2008 season has been a lot of fun for Brooks County’s football team.

The Trojans are 12-1 and preparing for their first appearance in the state semifinals since 1997. Brooks hosts Calhoun at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“We’re glad to be (in the semifinals). We’re glad to still be playing football this late in the season,” Brooks head coach Maurice Freeman said. “We’re looking forward to it.”

Brooks earned its spot in the semis with a come-from-behind 33-32 victory over Lovett last Friday. The Trojans scored 12 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to come back from an 11-point deficit and win by one.

The win was Brooks’ 12th of the season, the most the school has had since its state championship season in 1994. The Trojans had beaten Tattnall County 41-13 and Jefferson County 27-7 in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

A year ago, it would have been hard to imagine Brooks County making it to the semifinals. The Trojans had just struggled through a 3-7 season, playing in the toughest region in Class AA. Then they lost their head coach, as Ryan Branch left for region rival Berrien after seven years in Quitman.

At that point, the school called on Freeman. He was a Quitman native and a former Trojan standout. More importantly, he had been the head coach during a prosperous time in Brooks County football history. Under Freeman’s guidance, the Trojans had won the state championship in 1994, and made their last semifinal appearance in 1997.

They wanted Maurice Freeman back. So they called him and asked him to return home. He decided to come back, and now he’s glad he did.

“This is my hometown. It’s special,” Freeman said. “It was a dream to coach here the first time, and it’s a dream to come back. And then to be this successful in my first season. I wake up and I pinch myself on a regular basis, and I thank God for the opportunity to work with the young men here. They’ve been real receptive of my teaching and my coaching and my staff, and when that happens, great things can happen.

“To be 3-7 last season, and then to make such a turnaround, it’s big time.”

Freeman brought a new offense and a new defense to the program. He installed a 4-4 defense, and the team allowed an average of only nine points a game over its first 12 contests. He also installed an option offense, based out of the I formation, and it has fit Brooks’ personnel perfectly.

“On offense, we’ve got (quarterback) Jeramie Cody, that has over 1,000 yards rushing and over 700 yards passing. (Running back Keith) Christopher has over 1,400 yards rushing. Then if I add up my three fullbacks (Arlester McKinnon, Jeremy Jackson and Terrell Thompkins), they’ve got over 700 yards rushing. That’s a lot of offense,” Freeman said. “The defense is giving up nine points a game, so that’s a pretty decent defense also. That’s a pretty dog-gone good team.”

The players bought into Freeman’s system quickly, and the results were evident. Brooks won its season opener 63-0 over Fellowship Christian, then routed Tift County, a AAAAA playoff team, 35-7. The Trojans dropped their third game, 26-21 to eventual Class A state quarterfinalist Turner County, but since then, they have won 10 straight games.

“I said, ‘Guys, our first goal is, let’s try to make the playoffs. Then, if we make the playoffs, I’ve got some additional wrinkles that I can put in there that can assure us that we’ll make it a couple of rounds.’ Then, once we beat Thomasville, they started to turn around and say, ‘We can do this,’” Freeman said. “Then we beat (fellow state semifinalist) Fitzgerald, and they said, ‘Hey Coach, let’s do this.’ We knew we were region champs, and then we got in the playoffs, and we caught fire.”

On Friday night, the Trojans will try to make a tremendous season even better.