Hutson blocks kick, Lions complete comeback
BIRMINGHAM -- The Briarwood Christian School football team completed a comeback with a blocked field goal attempt as time expired, knocking off Class 5A No. 2 Ramsay 21-20 on Friday night at Lions Pride Stadium.
Parker Hutson blocked the field goal to seal the 5A, Region 4 win for the Lions. It wasn’t the only big play made by a Briarwood defender. With the Lions trailing 20-14 and Ramsay at the 10-yard line, a tipped pass landed in Cal Higdon’s arms in the end zone to give the Lions the ball with 8:03 left in the game.
After a fourth-down conversion in the middle of a 10-play drive, Chris Vizzina tossed a 37-yard touchdown pass to Eli Steadman to take the lead with 4:42 remaining in the game. Ramsay responded with a 17-play drive before Higdon and a host of Lions blocked the game-winning field goal try.
Higdon said this is the moment he has dreamed about since he was a child.
“It’s a dream as a kid to go out and have those kind of plays and moments,” Higdon said. “As a kid, I’ve grown up just wanting that to happen to me. It was just a great win.”
With the win, Briarwood is now in a three-way tie at the top of the region standings.
Vizzina had 190 yards passing and two touchdowns in the contest for the Lions. Luke Reebals ran for 76 yards after Luke Prewett left with an injury in the first half.
The Lions defense gave up 20 first-half points before shutting out the Rams in the second half. The defense came up with three turnovers, including a pair of Higdon interceptions.
Kamren Ivory led Ramsay down the field on the Rams’ first drive, finishing it off with a 23-yard touchdown run on a scramble. As the first quarter ended, Prewett busted free for a 31-yard touchdown run to put Briarwood up 7-6.
The second quarter belonged to Ramsay, as the Rams scored 14 points in the quarter. Jaylin Peterson scored on a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the quarter, right after the Lions’ initial score. Briarwood forced a fumble, but Ramsay came up with an interception to get the ball back.
That’s when Ivory hit Peterson for a 20-yard touchdown to take a 20-6 lead going into halftime.
Late in the third quarter, Vizzina hit Nic Dicen for a 39-yard gain on fourth-and-13 to set up a 2-yard score from Tyler Waugh, which made it 20-14 at the end of the third quarter.
Briarwood secured another big interception from Higdon leading to a 10-play, 80-yard drive that ended in a Vizzina-to-Steadman touchdown pass to take the 21-20 lead. Ramsay drove the ball down near the goal line, but the attempted game-winning, 24-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Higdon to end the game.
Briarwood head coach Matthew Forester said his team battled extremely well to earn the region win.
“I’m incredibly thankful how our boys responded to adversity,” Forester said. “We knew we had the ability within us. We faced adversity before, and we responded well. I’m excited about that.”
Briarwood will look to continue its winning ways next Friday night at Fairfield in the team’s final region contest.
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* Editor's note 10/21: Parker Hutson blocked the potential game-winning field goal, instead of Cal Higdon. The headline and second paragraph have been edited to reflect this correction.