Lions come up short in OT at Hartselle
HARTSELLE – The Briarwood Christian School vs. Hartselle High game must become a yearly tradition.
In 2010, Briarwood downed Hartselle 24-21 in overtime in the state semifinals. A year later, Hartselle avenged the 2010 loss, winning 16-14 to go on to the state championship game.
On Friday night, seven years since the last matchup, the story maintained its theme. This was just another chapter in epic Briarwood-Hartselle games.
Hartselle’s Keondre Swoopes bulled forward for a 1-yard touchdown in overtime, and Briarwood quarterback Jonah Carroll was picked off by Andy Lamb to preserve a 14-7 victory for the Class 6A No. 7 Tigers.
“Just a hard-fought game,” said Briarwood head coach Fred Yancey. “Both defenses were playing really well. Both offenses were fighting hard. Just a tough night. I knew we would compete, and I knew our guys would give it a great effort, and they did.”
Class 5A No. 1 Briarwood (4-1) got on the board first when Luke Prewett darted three yards for a touchdown midway through the first quarter. His score came two plays after a Cal Reebals interception. Reebals also had a tackle for loss and a pass breakup.
“Cal had his best game,” Yancey said. “I was real proud of him.”
Briarwood took a 7-0 lead into halftime but Swoopes changed that in a hurry in the third quarter, breaking free for a 45-yard score two minutes into the second half. From that point forward, Briarwood and Hartselle (5-0) each had five stalled drives to end regulation.
“I’m proud of everybody,” said Briarwood linebacker Mark Hand. “Everybody is doing their job. We just come out with a high intensity every single game hoping to give up zero points. We have a mentality of them not getting a first down. We’re always driving to be better than we are.”
Briarwood allowed double-digit points for the first time in 2018, and it took overtime against a tough Class 6A foe to do so. The Tigers finished with 223 rushing yards and only 24 passing yards on a rain-soaked field at J.P. Cain Stadium.
Swoopes finished with 139 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. Quarterback Luke Godsey carried the ball 26 times for 81 yards.
“I was pleased (with the defense),” Yancey said. “They led, and the rest of the guys gave it their best effort to pull this thing out.”
The Hartselle defense was strong against the Lions, holding them to 54 total yards – 36 rushing and 18 passing. Carroll completed 5-of-9 passes for 18 yards and the interception.
“Against them we’re still trying to find ourselves,” Yancey said of the offense. “Against some other folks we’ve found it. (Jonah) is going to be fine. He’s young and talented and given us a great effort, so I like him. I think he’s got a nice future.”
Prewett finished with a team-high 35 yards on 13 carries.
“Luke’s tough,” Yancey said. “I thought he was going to bust one and spring open any minute. But credit them. They didn’t let him do it.”
Briarwood travels to John Carroll next week for a Class 5A, Region 4 contest.
“We just ride the bus home tonight and start thinking about them another day,” Yancey said.
Against Hartselle, Hand learned that his team has grit.
“The biggest thing moving forward is we have to step up the intensity in practice and in every single thing we do we have to get better,” he said.
Even in defeat, Hand said this was “probably my favorite game, even though we lost.”
“The atmosphere and everything about it was absolutely fantastic,” Hand said. “I think between the mud, the homecoming game, the absolute slugfest and putting it on the defense, I think this was by far one of my favorite games even though we lost. The way we did it and the way we played, I’m proud of our team.”
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