Jimmy Mitchell
Briarwood Football
Briarwood's team during a game between Mortimer Jordan and Briarwood on Friday, Sept. 29, 2017, at Lions Pride Stadium in Birmingham.
The Briarwood Christian School football team (10-0) is still looking to put together a complete, four-quarter effort.
And that should scare opponents.
The Lions navigated the regular season unscathed, notching a perfect 10-0 mark for the first time since 2007, and still feel like there is great room to improve. Take the last two weeks as an example.
Two weeks ago, Briarwood dominated the first portion of the game against Pleasant Grove and jumped out to a 21-0 lead. But Pleasant Grove was the better team in the second half, and had a chance to tie the game in the final moments.
Last week, Briarwood managed a slim 7-3 edge over Madison Academy at halftime before running away with 20 unanswered points in the second half to earn a 27-3 win.
But the Lions are still perfect and are in the playoffs for the 25th consecutive season, a remarkable streak.
“That’s a hard thing to do,” Briarwood head coach Fred Yancey said of going 10-0. “Mistakes are made, but when the boys keep fighting and practicing hard, they’ve shown up well this year. To go 10-0, I’m very proud of them.”
Now, the margin of error thins for everyone, and records are tossed out the window. In the first round of the Class 5A playoffs, Briarwood will host Crossville on Thursday at 7 p.m.
As the top seed from Region 5, Briarwood hosts the No. 4 seed from Region 7. The teams have been heading in opposite directions in recent weeks. While the Lions have continued their winning ways, Crossville did just enough in the early weeks of the season to qualify for the postseason.
Crossville won its first four games of the season, including three region contests, but comes in on a six-game skid. In its last four games, Crossville has fallen by an average of nearly 33 points per contest.
Briarwood and Crossville have never met on the football field.
The winner of the game takes on the winner between Hayden and Lee-Huntsville in the second round of the playoffs on Nov. 17.
- Brandon Miller contributed to this report.
