[By Anthony Hawthorne, Special to ETSN.fm]

TATUM -- Tatum coach Andy Evans doesn’t like to refer to Chaston Brooks as a backup quarterback. After seeing his performance Friday night, it’s easy to understand why.

Brooks, filling in for injured starter J.D. Taylor, put on an impressive display in leading Tatum to a dominating, season-opening victory, 39-7, over No. 5 Newton at Eagle Stadium.

Brooks completed 16 of 22 passes for 239 yards and four touchdowns -- two of which went to speedy wide receiver Josh Ivy -- to go along with another score on the ground.

“He’s a real heady guy, very smart," Evans said of Brooks. "You can count on him wherever you put him. He’s gonna make plays."

Ivy finished the night with five catches for 70 yards, continually finding open areas up the middle of the field and torching the Newton secondary. Tatum's other dynamic receiver, Deyanta Roberson, finished with five catches for 48 yards and a touchdown.

Tatum dominated both sides of the ball, moving it with relative ease offensively, racking up 390 yards and only punting once, and showing a dominant defensive front that caused fits all night for quarterback Roney Elam -- a Texas A&M commit -- and his offense.

The quartet of Malik Allen, Devon Boyd, Damian Lopez and Ryan Hyde stuffed the run for a majority of the night for Tatum and put constant pressure on Elam when he did try to pass.

Elam finished the night 0 of 9 through the air with an interception, and was held to negative yardage on the ground.

“Our D-line was outstanding, and when you stop those guys (Newton), you’re getting great linebacker play," Evans said. “Da’Calen Hicks, Kyshaun Smith, Antonio Shaw, those guys did a tremendous job.”

Tatum (1-0) opened the scoring quickly, using a play-action rollout on the game's initial play with Brooks finding Denarius Earl down the sideline for a 66-yard gain. Brooks punched it in from 8 yards out on the next play for a 7-0 lead, one the Eagles never relinquished.

Brooks led the next drive through the air as well, connecting with Roberson twice, one of which being a highlight-reel grab with Roberson going up over the cornerback for the grab. That set up Ivy for the first of his two first-half scores from a yard out.

Tatum’s final two scoring drives of the first half ended with Brooks scoring strikes. Roberson caught a 5-yard TD and Ivy scored his second of the night, following a textbook read option from Brooks, which left Ivy wide open down the middle of the field, giving Tatum its 27-0 halftime lead.

Newton (0-1) opened the second half with its best drive of the game, only to have it stall at the Tatum 12-yard line on downs.

Despite a turnover on the next possession, Tatum got the ball right back, forcing one of its own on an interception by Jordan Nelson.

Brooks found Boyd on a fourth-and-12 play on a jailbreak screen with Boyd doing the rest, using his speed down the sideline to find the end zone from 34 yards out.

Tatum collected its final score of the night, as Brooks found Ivy once again up the middle, working the read-option pass to perfection for his fourth TD strike of the night.

Newton’s lone score came as the final horn sounded with Gabe Foster finding the end zone from a yard out. Foster led the way for Newton, collecting 105 yards on 16 carries.

Newton returns to action next week, hosting Bridge City. Tatum will have a week off to prepare for a home game with Gilmer on Sept. 12.

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Tatum 39, No. 5 Newton 7

At Eagle Stadium, Tatum

Newton            0     0    0    7    --     7
Tatum              7   20    6    6    --   39

First Quarter
TAT – Chaston Brooks 8 run (Jesus Sandoval Kick) 11:07
Second Quarter
TAT – Josh Ivy 1 Run (Kick Failed) 11:55
TAT – Brooks 5 Pass Deyanta Roberson (2-PT Good) 6:58
TAT – Brooks 16 Pass Ivy (Kick Failed) 3:34
Third Quarter
TAT – Brooks 34 Pass Devon Boyd (Kick Failed) 1:04
Fourth Quarter
TAT – Brooks 21 Pass Ivy (Kick Failed) 9:43
NEW – Gabe Foster 1 Run (Kick Good) 0:00

   NEW               TAT
First Downs                10                   14
Total Yards                206                 390
Rushes-Yards             48-206           29-151
Passing Yards                 0                      239
Comp-Att-Int             0-9-1              17-24-1
Penalties-Yards         4-18                6-42
Fumbles-Lost             3-2                  2-2
Punts-Avg                  4-25.5             1-33

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Newton, Jace Thomas 18-65, Gabe Foster 16-105, Roney Elam 4-(-3), Jaron Hanks 7-20, Bo Wood 3-19. Tatum, Chaston Brooks 9-27, Tavian Ray 5-33, Dameion Spears-Mitchell 2-1, Denarius Earl 1-15, Devon Boyd 3-51, Josh Ivy 2-10, Marcus Thomas 1-(-5), Kyshaun Smith 1-12, Travian Ray 1-4, Antonio Shaw 2-(-2), Carlos Pocasangre 3-6.
PASSING--Newton, Roney Elam 0-9-1--0. Tatum, Chaston Brooks 16-22-1--239, Kyshaun Smith 1-2-0--0
RECEIVING--Tatum, Denarius Earl 2-70, Martin Williams 2-14, Josh Ivy 5-70, Deyanta Roberson 5-48, Devon Boyd 2-34, Antonio Shaw 1-4, Kedric Shaw 1-0.

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