Lions one win from state title, perfect season

The Briarwood Christian School football team entered the 2017 season with its sights set on a state title. Now, it is at the Lions’ fingertips.

After storming back from a 17-point halftime deficit last Friday to knock off St. Clair County in the semifinals, Briarwood (14-0) is set to face St. Pauls (13-1) in the Class 5A state final on Thursday at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., with the pregame walk of champions slated for 4:55 p.m.

Thursday’s title tilt will be a rematch of the 2007 state championship game that resulted in a 14-13 St. Paul's victory. The two teams have only met once since then, with Briarwood falling to its Mobile-based foe in the third round of the 2012 state playoffs. The Lions are 1-8 all time against the Saints, who also clinched 5A state crowns in 2014 and 2015.

This will be Briarwood’s first state championship appearance since 2010, when it fell to Spanish Fort. The Lions last captured the state crown in 2003 by beating Russellville, 31-7. It was the program’s fifth title overall, as it also secured blue maps in 1977, 1983, 1998 and 1999. 1998 is the only year in school history in which it won the state title and finished undefeated. Those Lions went 15-0.

Briarwood head coach Fred Yancey, who arrived at the school in 1990, guided the team during that blemishless season. He now has a chance to do it again thanks to last week’s second-half heroics.

Briarwood, making its second consecutive semifinal appearance, erased a 27-10 halftime deficit by scoring on four its final five possessions. The 37-33 victory, sealed by JR Tran-Reno’s 1-yard touchdown run with 23 seconds remaining, avenged last year’s semifinal defeat to Wenonah.

Yancey called the improbable comeback one of the greatest wins in Briarwood lore.

“We were down and out and just had to come back,” Yancey said. “It took a lot of guts, courage on the part of both these teams, and our boys sure did come through in the third and fourth quarter.”

While the Lions defense buckled down, the offense, led by senior quarterback Michael Hiers, unleashed. Carson Eddy scored on a 3-yard run to pull his team within 10, 27-17, midway through the third quarter, and Hiers connected with Luke Prewett for a 26-yard touchdown to cap the next Briarwood drive.

The Lions took their first lead of the game, 31-27, with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter when Hiers dashed up the middle for a 25-yard touchdown. The run finished off a three-play, 70-yard drive that featured a 43-yard completion through dense fog from Hiers to Tran-Reno. Hiers completed 32-of-43 passes for more than 390 yards on the night.

“We trained all year for it, all four quarters, even though we hadn’t had to play four quarters like this,” Hiers said. “We trained for this, so we were ready. All of us players are fighters.”

Although St. Clair County retook the lead with two minutes remaining, 33-31, the Lions kept their cool. Hiers connected with Eddy for a pinpoint 34-yard completion on the ensuing drive, moving the ball to the opposing 17-yard line. Four plays later Tran-Reno found the end zone for the game-winning score.

“It doesn’t take experience to want to win bad,” said Yancey, who also noted that his team had not been challenged like that all season.

It’s true.

Briarwood had handled the majority of its opponents with ease, including St. Clair County earlier in the season. The Lions beat them in convincing fashion on Oct. 6, 31-6.

But now Briarwood is battle tested, and that factors to its advantage entering its showdown with St. Paul's.

The Saints punched their ticket to the state final by holding off Demopolis last Friday, 20-19. St. Paul's stopped a Demopolis two-point conversion attempt with less than a minute left in regulation to hang on for the win. The Saints also notched playoff victories over Marbury, 48-6, Carroll, 37-13, and Beauregard, 52-20.

St. Pauls went 9-1 during the regular season, losing only to Region 1 champion Vigor, 27-20, on Oct. 20. The Saints are led by senior cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis, a consensus four-star recruit who has committed to Alabama.

Tickets for Thursday’s game cost $12 in advance and $15 at the gate. For more information about the game, visit super7al.com.