Lions fall in triple overtime
BIRMINGHAM – The finish line was in sight several times for the Briarwood Christian School football team on Friday night, but the Lions never could quite cross it.
That is primarily due to Calera never giving up, as the Eagles visited Lions Pride Stadium and emerged with a gutsy 31-28 win over Briarwood in triple overtime in a critical Class 6A, Region 3 game.
Calera’s TJ Hernandez won the game for the Eagles with a 27-yard field goal in the third overtime, after Calera forced a turnover on Briarwood’s possession.
Both teams exchanged touchdowns in the first two overtimes. Cooper Higgins fought his way into the end zone on a 15-yard reception to allow the Lions to strike first, but Calera’s Ka’Darrius Young scored on a 10-yard grab to tie the game at 21-21.
In the second overtime, Daniel Brown scored on an 11-yard run for Calera, and Briarwood stayed alive on fourth down, as Christopher Vizzina found Brady Waugh streaking across the back of the end zone for a 2-yard score to knot it at 28-28.
Calera intercepted a pass on Briarwood’s first play of the third overtime, and kicked the field goal to earn a win after trailing the majority of the ball game.
Briarwood (3-4, 1-3 in region) saw a potential game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter go for naught, and a couple deflected passes late in the game could have ended the proceedings in favor of the Lions as well.
“Yeah, this one hurts,” Briarwood head coach Matthew Forester said following the game. “They did a great job, they executed well. There were just a few things. But our boys fought ‘til the very end, they just made some tough plays and made a few more. We’ll clean up our mistakes and we’ll continue to improve.”
Briarwood jumped out to an early lead and looked as if it had the potential to run away with it. Beau Barnes and Preston King notched sacks in the opening quarter, and Cace Reynolds blocked a punt that set up Vizzina’s 11-yard run to open the scoring at 7-0.
The Lions got the ball back at midfield and struck on the first play. Vizzina hit Drew Mathe, who had at least 5 yards on his defender, in stride for a 50-yard touchdown to make it 14-0 less than nine minutes into game action.
But Calera (3-4, 2-3) eventually settled in. The Eagles punted five times and turned the ball over on downs once in their first six possessions, but Preston Stokes hit Braylyn Farrington for a 54-yard touchdown late in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 14-7.
Calera got the ball back once more before the half, but Luke Dickinson sacked Stokes on the first play of the drive to thwart any chance the Eagles had.
The Eagles did do damage at the outset of the third quarter, though. They executed and recovered an onside kick and scored nine plays later, as Skyler Strawn caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Stokes to tie the game at 14-14.
Stokes was solid all night, finishing 19-of-32 passing for 219 yards and three scores. Farrington was his favorite target, as he caught six balls for 99 yards. Strawn had three catches for 26 yards and Young finished with 47 yards on four catches. All three receivers notched a touchdown.
The remainder of regulation was a stalemate. Briarwood was forced to punt after an 11-play drive in the third quarter. Calera missed a field goal at the conclusion of a 14-play drive. Sacks from King, Andrew Kassouf and Dickinson pushed Calera out of comfortable field goal range.
The Lions got as far as the Calera 15-yard line on their final drive in regulation, but a penalty and negative play forced them out of field goal range. Regulation ended with both teams exchanging unsuccessful Hail Mary plays.
Amari Brundidge ran the ball well for Calera, finishing with 76 yards on 14 carries. Brown had 11 carries for 50 yards and the touchdown.
“They did a really good job with their offense of just balancing run and pass, and they had a deadly receiver out there,” Forester said. “Number 1 (Farrington), he’s a good player. Offensively, we had some good stuff going, but (lacking) consistency and continuing to do the right things all the time.”
Vizzina concluded the night 17-of-28 for 181 yards and four total touchdowns (one rushing). The Lions struggled to move the ball on the ground, finishing with just 27 rushing yards in the contest.
Waugh ended up with five catches for 36 yards, Higgins had three grabs for 25 yards and Sawyer Russell had four catches for 48 yards, including a couple key grabs in the fourth quarter.
Briarwood’s final two region games are on the road, beginning with a trip to Benjamin Russell next week. The Lions’ playoff destiny is no longer fully in their control, but they do still have the possibility of advancing to the postseason for the 30th consecutive season.
“There is still region play, there’s still life to be had, so we’ll continue to fight,” Forester said. “We can’t just say every time life doesn’t go our way, that we’re going to pack up and quit. We’re going to suck it up and continue to improve and get better. You don’t have a choice and you don’t have a choice out here.”
Calera hosts Helena in its final region contest next week.