Lions knock out Marbury
BIRMINGHAM — Two Lukes are better than one.
Briarwood Christian School sophomore Luke Reebals stole the show on Friday night at Lions Pride Stadium, rushing for three touchdowns and catching another to lead Briarwood (10-1) to a 42-26 win over Marbury in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.
Reebals scored on rushes of 21, 55 and 12 yards, and caught a 63-yard touchdown in the win. His teammate, running back Luke Prewett, scored the other offensive touchdown, a 5-yard scamper in the first quarter.
“We have the threat of the two Lukes,” said first-year Lions head coach Matthew Forester. “I’m excited about having both of them back.”
After Prewett’s first-quarter score, Reebals bolted free for a 21-yard score on the first play of the second quarter. He then scored on the second play of the third quarter, when Christopher Vizzina hit him in stride for a 63-yard strike to go up 21-0. Marbury (6-5) answered when quarterback Jessie Caver ran it in from seven yards out. Two plays later, Reebals was sprinting for a 55-yard touchdown. Reebals scored on the next Briarwood drive on a 12-yard run to put the Lions up 35-6.
“He taught me to be patient,” Reebals said of Prewett. “I used to never be patient. I would just hit it as hard as I could. But (Prewett and the offensive line) taught me to be patient this year, and it’s been working the last few games. Anyone could have run through those holes.”
Marbury’s Dantavius Bristow then plunged forward for a 2-yard touchdown one offensive snap later, a score setup by his 91-yard kickoff return.
Briarwood’s final touchdown came when Chase Travis fielded a negative-four-yard punt at the 2-yard line and stepped into the end zone. Marbury got two more late touchdowns, an 85-yard kickoff return by Bristow and an 83-yard run by Jakhiel Waller.
Prewett finished with 49 yards and a touchdown on seven carries. Vizzina competed 4-of-7 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown. The Lions, as a team, rushed for 279 yards.
With the win, Briarwood travels to Jackson next Friday.
“We just try to be the best team we can be,” Forester said. “We’re not peaking yet. We’re going to keep improving. There are things we need to work on.”
The story on this night, however, was Reebals, who finished with 168 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries. He caught one ball for the 63-yard score. Reebals missed his freshman season last year due to injury.
“We knew he was going to be a big-time player, Forester said. “He’s a great kid. He’s a hard, hard worker.”
Forester said that Prewett has invested in his young backfield mate who shares his first name.
“That’s a key part where we’ve got older guys invested in younger guys,” he said. “That’s a special thing when you’ve got a team that’s worried about the future legacy that they want to leave. It’s great to see seniors invested in sophomores.”
As Reebals, who once scored six touchdowns in a junior high game, fielded interview questions near the 50-yard line, he mentioned Prewett on several occasions.
“Oh my gosh,” Reebals said. ”I love that dude. He’s told me everything. Everything I know is because he’s taught me it.”
Reebals didn’t know it at that moment, but Prewett was standing close by, smiling as his protege shined.
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