Lions win at Corner
DORA -- Luke Reebals and Christopher Vizzina accounted for three touchdowns each as Class 6A No. 6 Briarwood Christian School cruised to an easy 40-15 win at 5A Corner in the regular season finale.
“I thought the guys played really hard and really aggressive, fundamental football,” Briarwood coach Matthew Forester said in a phone interview after the game. “We had the opportunity to play a lot of guys tonight and we came out of the game healthy.”
The Lions (9-1) will host Fort Payne next week in the first round of the playoffs as the No. 2 seed from Region 5.
Reebals scored on runs of 17, 7 and 7 yards as Briarwood built a 26-0 halftime lead, which stretched to 40-0 in the third quarter.
Vizzina, the junior quarterback with multiple Power 5 offers including, most recently, Notre Dame, also had a big night. He rushed for a 25-yard touchdown and hit Ethan Anderson with a 28-yard passing touchdown in the first half, and later threw a 64-yard scoring strike to Luke Gilbert.
Corner (2-8) scored two late touchdowns to get on the board.
“It was nice to see Luke on a grass field with a lot of mud,” Forester said. “It was really muddy and he was making cuts and keeping his balance. He performed like the big-time running back that he is. Vizzina did exactly what we asked him to do. When guys got open, he hit them.”
Defensively, Reese Garner had an interception for the Lions and Haddon Stubbs had a fumble recovery. The Lions take a two-game win streak into the postseason and have made the playoffs every year since 1992.
“Any time you can get nine wins in the regular season, it’s a great season,” Forester said. “Obviously you talk about Reebals and Vizzina being the headline guys, but a whole lot of guys have put in a lot of hard work to get Briarwood as successful as it has been. We’re excited to get ready for the playoffs.”