Lions head north for 2nd round game
It would have been easy for the Briarwood Christian School football team to take its first round opponent lightly.
The Lions (11-0) were more talented than Crossville in every facet, but they took nothing for granted and rolled to a 62-0 victory in the Class 5A state playoff opener last Thursday.
Briarwood owned a 7-0 lead just nine seconds into the game, as Michael Hiers connected with Carson Eddy on a long touchdown pass.
Hiers connected with Eddy on the next drive as well, tossing the ball to him on a sweep route toward the right flat. Eddy hauled in the pass, juked a pair of defenders and galloped for a 55-yard touchdown.
Carson Donnelly’s 26-yard interception return for a score on the ensuing Crossville possession officially signaled that the rout was on.
Briarwood led 35-0 after one quarter and 55-0 at the half. The Lions outgained their opponent 308-32 over the first two quarters.
The challenge becomes much tougher this Friday, as Briarwood heads north to face Lee-Huntsville at 7 p.m. at Milton Frank Stadium in the second round of the playoffs.
Lee-Huntsville is coming off a 31-21 win at Hayden in the first round, and now sits with an 8-3 mark for the season. The Generals have won their last four games, and their only Region 8 losses came to Mae Jemison and Brooks, the two teams that finished ahead of Lee.
Lee has relied heavily on its defense this season, much like Briarwood. While averaging a modest 26 points per game, the Generals surrender just over 12 points per contest, while Briarwood allows less than nine per contest.
The two teams have met twice previously on the field, in 2004 and 2005. The road team won each of those contests, with Briarwood winning in Huntsville in 2004 and Lee returning the favor in 2005.
Lee-Huntsville has experienced a resurgence under third-year head coach Tony Woods, who has led the Generals to the playoffs for the second time in that span. Prior to that, Lee had failed to qualify for postseason play nine consecutive seasons.
On the other hand, Briarwood is in the playoffs for the 25th straight year and is coming off a semifinal berth last fall.
The winner of the contest will move on to face either Etowah or Brooks in the quarterfinals.
- Sam Chandler contributed to this report.