Lions top Woodlawn, earn 1st win under new coach
BIRMINGHAM -- Music from the 1980s blared from the home locker room Friday night as the Briarwood Christian School football team notched it first win in the Matthew Forester era.
The Lions knocked off Class 5A, Region 4 opponent Woodlawn 38-20 at Lions Pride Stadium.
“I’m just happy to have our boys play hard,” Forester said on the field after the game. “They played hard. They played physical. They won the game. For me, there’s nothing really personal. It’s just a football game. I’ve been doing it my whole life.”
Much of the coach’s experience has been under recently retired Lions coach Fred Yancey. He played under Yancey four years and coached under him for 16 more.
“If there is a baton (that he’s taken from the former head coach), it’s a light baton,” Forester said. “He worked so hard to make it a smooth transition. I’m grateful for the opportunity that I have.”
Briarwood recovered a Woodlawn fumble on the second play of the game and scored a touchdown four plays later. The home team was up 14-0 before the Colonels got on the board with Jeremiah Evans’ 61-yard run on a fake punt.
“They were going to come after the punt. It was there. He had an option to kick it or go," Woodlawn coach Jerry Davenport said. "He saw it and he went. He made the right decision.”
Evans had 96 yards at halftime and finished with 107 yards on 14 carries. Briarwood’s Luke Prewett had 101 yards and two TDs on 13 carries.
Forester called Prewett Briarwood’s “Mr. Reliable.”
“He is just a good, good football player,” he said. “He’s our engine who makes us go. It was exciting to see him doing well tonight.”
The Lions coach was complimentary of the improvement Woodlawn displayed from its recent outings. Davenport said keeping his players motivated is the main mission.
“We had a speaker come in today who said, ‘Just believe in yourself,’” the coach recounted. “I think that did a lot for our program.”
Woodlawn (2-2) hosts John Carroll Catholic next Friday, while Briarwood (1-2 overall, 1-1 in region) heads to Wenonah.
“We just wanted to play our game and focus on what we can do best and just play,” freshman quarterback Christopher Vizzina said of his Lions.
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