Josh Brooks leads Windsor to opening rout over Bethlehem Christian

Josh Brooks ran for 180 yards and five touchdowns as Windsor scored early and often, coasting to 48-15 win over Bethlehem Christian on Friday.

Brooks had four rushing touchdowns and also caught a touchdown pass from Jonathan Osborn and fought off second-half cramping to key the win.

“The cramping started on the second play of the second half, but I just had to try and fight through it,” said Brooks, who had three touchdowns in the first half. “We only have 25 players on the team, so all of us are needed on defense and offense, so I did my best to stay on the field. But I will admit I am pretty exhausted right now.

“This was just the way we wanted to start the season, and we feel like we will only get better as the year goes on.”

After a sluggish start, Windsor (1-0) got rolling on its second possession. After Brooks intercepted a pass, Osborn found Marquise Jackson down the sideline for a 31-yard touchdown.

Windsor scored quickly again on a 36-yard run, and Jackson scored again on an 82-yard punt return to make it 21-0. Bethlehem Christian scored on a 3-yard run by Chris Ratterree on its next possession to make it 21-7, but minutes later, Brooks broke free on a 43-yard touchdown run. Windsor ended its first half scoring when Osborn connected with Brooks right before the half to give the Knights a 34-7 lead at the half.

Brooks scored early in the third quarter to make it 41-7, while Osborn added 69 yards rushing and 154 passing in his debut as the Knights’ quarterback.

“I thought we played decently in the first half, and then it got worse in the second half,” said Windsor head coach Jimmy Watts, whose team is coming off a five-win season. “I am very disappointed in the cramping issues we had, especially the ones that went out in the first half, and we will have to address that at practice. But with all the new things we have put in and having a quarterback that was a fullback last year, I will take it for the first game.

“I truly think we have a pretty good football team, and I am excited to see how good we can be.”

This story was originally published August 21, 2015 at 11:10 PM with the headline "Josh Brooks leads Windsor to opening rout over Bethlehem Christian."