LILBURN - Sean Dawkins ran 19 times for 129 yards and three touchdowns as No. 1 Parkview beat fifth-ranked Brookwood 28-7 Saturday night to win its third consecutive state championship and set a Georgia High School Association record with its 45th straight victory. <br>
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Lincoln County, a Class A school, owned the previous mark with a 44-game winning streak from 1989-91. <br>
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Parkview, founded in 1976, has played in the state's highest classification since Cecil Flowe arrived as an assistant coach in '91. Flowe, who improved to 118-18 in 10 years as head coach at Parkview, has led his school to four state titles in the last six years. <br>
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``We're really 1-0 for 45 straight weeks,'' Flowe said. ``There's an old Glenn Miller tune, 'String of Pearls,' and that's what this is, a string of pearls. We just kept our focus. We took everybody's best shot and here we are.'' <br>
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The Panthers (15-0) won their fifth straight over Brookwood (13-2) in a matchup of Region 8-AAAAA rivals that are only five miles apart. <br>
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Dawkins' 2-yard gave the Panthers a 6-0 lead on their opening drive. The senior running back had runs of 28 and 26 yards before setting up his touchdown with a 4-yard gain on fourth-and-one at the 6. <br>
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Parkview finished off the Broncos with a strong third quarter. Dawkins ended a nine-play, 72-yard drive by running over Brookwood's Cannon Berrong at the line of scrimmage and going 14 yards for the touchdown. <br>
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The Panthers took a 21-0 lead nine plays later. Following Brad Lester's interception of Broncos quarterback Kevin Lukenda, Joey Sturdivant caught a screen pass near the left sideline from Dustin Wade and ran 40 yards for the score. <br>
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Brookwood's Chris Covington answered by breaking two tackles on a 99-yard kickoff return and running down the left sideline for his team's touchdown. <br>
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On their ensuing possession, which lasted 5:23 and ended at the 10:15 mark of the fourth quarter, the Panthers converted third downs on Lester's 11-yard run, Wade's 12-yard pass to Sturdivant and a 30-yard catch by tight end Matt Knight to set up first-and-goal at the 2. <br>
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Dawkins ended the scoring on the next play, taking a handoff and running to his left for the touchdown. <br>
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``I told all the seniors, 'This is your last game. Go out there and make something of it,' `` Flowe said. ``He put the whole world on his shoulders and carried us tonight.'' <br>
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Brookwood, which is located in Snellville, opened in 1981 because Parkview couldn't meet demand from the booming population of Gwinnett County.
