Tran-Reno scores five touchdowns as Lions romp over Lee-Huntsville
HUNTSVILLE — He’s been called “Tran-Marino” for so long, it’s part of his Twitter handle.
Whether the comparisons to NFL great Dan Marino are warranted or not is a matter of debate. What is not up for debate is the fact Briarwood Christian School junior running back J.R. Tran-Reno had a career night Friday, as he scored all five of his team’s touchdowns in the Lions’ 35-14 Class 5A second round playoff win over Lee-Huntsville at Milton Frank Stadium.
Tran-Reno took advantage of four short-field drives — well, maybe not really “drives,” since three of the possessions started inside the Generals’ 10-yard line and the other at the 30. He scored on runs of 1, 13, 4, 7 and 8 yards, with two of those scores coming from direct snaps. In fact, Tran-Reno took about half of the snaps that top-ranked Briarwood’s first string had for the game, more than he can ever recall taking.
“It was working tonight, and the line was playing great,” Tran-Reno said. “Special teams made great plays inside the red zone most of the game.”
If Tran-Reno has had a better single game in his career so far, Coach Fred Yancey couldn’t quite pull it out of his long memory.
“He probably has, but since my memory is right on this one, I tell you what — he was big-time tonight,” Yancey said. “J.R. stepped up. The guys needed him to be a great player tonight, and he was absolutely.”
The Lions defense and special teams harassed Generals sophomore quarterback/punter Noah Watkins all night. Watkins had one of his punts blocked and downed on his own 7-yard line, and fumbled two long snaps that were also turned over inside the Lee 10. He also threw an interception to Briarwood’s Carson Donnelly that was run back to the Generals’ 19. And on all four of those possessions, Tran-Reno scored.
“That was about as good a field position as we could possibly hope for,” Yancey said. “We wanted the kicking game to be a factor — J.R. made some nice punts too — but we felt like that was our edge. We had plenty of opportunities, and we cashed in on them.”
The only time the Lions mounted a lengthy offensive drive in the whole game was in the fourth quarter. Starting at their own 49, they pounded the ball through the Lee defensive line, usually behind the strong legs of Tran-Reno. And when the possession was about to bog down deep on fourth down, quarterback Michael Hiers connected with Carson Eddy on a 14-yard pass that gained a first down and goal. Tran-Reno scored on a draw on the next snap.
The Generals (8-4) did show signs of life, with Watkins piloting his team to a score just before halftime, helped by three penalties for 35 yards on Briarwood. Watkins ran one yard for the score. He also tossed a 6-yard scoring pass to Darious Taylor in the fourth quarter that kept Lee within two touchdowns.
Tran-Reno ran 25 times for 106 yards; the play that put his total over the century mark was the fifth touchdown, which came with 3:38 left in the game. He also completed a pass to Hudson Hartsfield and caught another from Hiers.
As for Hiers, he had a light workout, throwing six completions on 11 attempts for 96 yards. He made a nice scramble for big yardage to start the second quarter, but gained only eight net yards on six carries due to a couple of sacks and a recovered bad snap.
Briarwood continues its unbeaten season with the streak now at 12 games. The Lions will host Etowah next week in the Class 5A quarterfinals; the Blue Devils defeated Brooks 42-21 in the second round.