Reagan 39, Brandeis 7

Quick take: Reagan, the No. 1-ranked team in the Express-News’ Class 6A rankings, capped its first undefeated regular season in eight years by defeating Brandeis 39-7 on Friday in a District 28-6A game at Farris Stadium.

“I’m very proud of our coaching staff, our kids and our community,” Hamilton said. “Our kids got a little bit banged up last week, and tonight we had some injuries. But we stuck together and we stayed cohesive and atthe end of the night, Reagan Rattlers came out on top. You got to have really good players to have a really good season, and right now these young men are living up to the hype.”

The Rattlers (10-0, 8-0 28-6A) rolled up 409 yards of total offense and 24 first downs as they held the Broncos’ (5-5, 4-4) offense in check.

Brandeis kept the game close at halftime, trailing only 15-7 as the Broncos’ defense limited Reagan to two field goals on their first two possessions of the first half, both of which ended inside the Brandeis’ 10-yard line.

Reagan broke the game open after halftime as Rattlers quarterback Brad Jackson threw two of his three touchdown passes. Jackson finished 23-of-30 passing for 239 yards passing.

Brandeis was hurt by the loss of senior quarterback Lincoln Philyaw, who left the game late in the second quarter after taking a hard hit and fumbling the ball as the Broncos were on the march deep into Reagan territory.

Reagan coach Lyndon Hamilton said going undefeated in the regular season was a big accomplishment for his team, especially since the Rattlers have had to battle injuries along the way. Hamilton was Reagan’s defensive coordinator the last time the Rattlers had an undefeated regular season in 2015.

Highlights: Reagan’s Rayshun Hurt returned the opening kickoff 36 yards to the Brandeis 44, setting up a 25-yard field goal by

Jonathon Leos that put Reagan up 3-0 with 6:47 in the first quarter.

The Rattlers forced Brandeis to punt on its first possession. Reagan’s Cole Higby blocked the punt, with the ball rolling out of the end zone for a safety at 5:01 in the first quarter.

After receiving the free kick, Reagan made it 8-0 on a 25-yard field goal from Leos on the second play of the second quarter, capping a 13-play, 52-yard drive.

On their next drive, Reagan was on the march again driving near Brandeis’ goal line when Brandeis defensive back Jacob Voss scooped up a Reagan fumble at the Broncos 3, returning it 97 yards for a score. Ryan Villasenor added the point after to get Brandeis within 8-7 at 4:52 in the second quarter.

The Rattlers answered the Broncos score as Jackson connected with Michael Yzaguirre on a slant for a 52-yard scoring pass. Leos booted the PAT for a 15-7 Reagan lead with 3:42 remaining in the first half.

Reagan went up 22-7 late in the third quarter on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to Landon Johnston. The Rattlers put the game away with three scores in the fourth quarter, a 7-yard scoring toss from Jackson to Caleb Cappuccio, a 45-yard Leos field goal and a 1-yard Wallace Coleman run.

What it means: Friday marked only the fourth time Reagan and Brandeis have played each other, with the Rattlers owning a 4-0 series advantage.

Game balls: Jackson was the spark plug for Reagan’s offense, totaling 329 yards, including 239 yards passing, and was Reagan’s leading rusher with 90 yards on 8 carries.

Leading Reagan in receiving was Cappuccio, who caught 11 passes for 100 yards and one score, and Michael Yzaguirre, who had 68 yards on three catches and a touchdown.

Leos made three field goals for Reagan, from 23, 25 and 45 yards, and four extra points.

Quotable: “What a great leader on and off the field,” Hamilton said of Jackson. “Tonight, he got it done in the air and with his legs on the ground. We had a couple of kids get banged up and he put us on his back and made sure we continued to stay balance in the run game and in the air.”

Up next: Reagan takes its undefeated record into the first round of the Class 6A Division I playoffs next week.