Lions blank Woodlawn

BIRMINGHAM -- JR Tran-Reno had an all-around night on offense, scoring four touchdowns as the top-ranked Briarwood Christian School football team rolled over Woodlawn in a 46-0 shutout at Birmingham’s Lawson Field.

Tran-Reno started the game at quarterback, but kept the attack on the ground most of the time and relinquished the signal-calling duties to sophomore backup Jonah Carroll late in the first quarter.

Tran-Reno then became the man on the receiving end of the ball, taking three hand-offs for short-yardage scoring runs and catching a Carroll 11-yard touchdown toss midway through the second quarter.

The Colonels have had their share of challenges on and off the field this year — their team captain, junior defensive end William Edwards, was killed two weeks ago when someone shot from outside his house into his bedroom — and their offense had plenty of problems simply holding onto the ball in the face of a stout Lions defense.

Briarwood’s first score of the game came off a recovery of a bad snap on a Woodlawn punt, which defensive back Cade Dickinson picked up and ran 17 yards for a touchdown halfway through the first period.

Two minutes later, Tran-Reno shifted his game into top gear, thanks in part to the Lions defense capitalizing on Colonel mistakes. A Dickinson interception of a Justin Hendrix pass put Briarwood in business on the Woodlawn 35, and Tran-Reno threw three straight passes — his only completions of the night — to set up his own 1-yard charge for a touchdown.

Then with Carroll taking the snaps, Tran-Reno focused on finding the end zone. The Lions’ longest drive of the night, which started at their own 40, ended with Carroll handing off to Tran-Reno for a 6-yard score with 7:11 left in the first half. That was followed two minutes later by an 11-yard scoring pass from Carroll to Tran-Reno, which was set up by an Andrew Hill interception deep in Colonels territory.

Then, after Mark Hand recovered an onside kick that really wasn’t meant to be onside, Tran-Reno scored again from a yard out only 26 seconds after his last score.

The defense struck again with a scoop-and-score from big defensive lineman Dalton Brooks, who grabbed a Hendrix fumble and rambled 13 yards to the end zone with 2:38 left in the half.

With the score standing at 40-0 at halftime, both coaches agreed to shorten the third quarter to eight minutes. They then reversed their decision and went back to the regulation 12 minutes in the final period so that their reserves could get in some playing time. 

That’s when Briarwood third-string quarterback Mason Algren scored on a 3-yard run.

Tran-Reno completed 3-of-5 pass attempts for 48 yards and ran seven times for 56 yards. Carroll was also 3-of-6 passing for 42 yards with a touchdown.

The Lions defense tallied three interceptions, five sacks and six forced fumbles, four of which resulted in turnovers, including the two touchdowns.

While the result was a blowout for Briarwood, it was also a sign for coach Fred Yancey that his team is getting better in its third win of the season.

“Tonight was a good night for us to improve, because in the last two games we were just at a certain level,” Yancey said. “It was fun tonight to see all the boys get in and contribute in a game like they do in practice every day.”

Running back Luke Prewett was sidelined after an injury in last week’s win over Pleasant Grove. Yancey said Prewett will likely return in two weeks.

The Lions (3-0, 2-0 in Class 5A, Region 4) continue their region-play winning streak that dates back to the 2015 season. 

Their first official home game comes next week as they host Wenonah, which was shut out Friday by Fairfield.

To purchase photos from the game, click here.