Lions a win away from second straight region title

One win stands in between the Briarwood Christian School football team and its second consecutive Class 5A, Region 5 title.

The Lions (7-0, 5-0 in region) will look to move past Shelby County on Friday night to make that a reality, as the teams kick it off at 7 p.m. Friday at Lions Pride Stadium.

Briarwood has won 12 straight region contests over the past two seasons and already have locked up a playoff berth for a remarkable 25th straight season.

Last week, Briarwood had no trouble dispatching region foe Woodlawn, 49-14.

“I thought we came out ready to play,” Briarwood head coach Fred Yancey said. “Woodlawn’s got some speed and we matched up with it pretty good, so I was pleased with that.”

Briarwood scored three touchdowns in the opening frame, and the rout was on. The Lions drove 51 yards on five plays on their opening drive. Quarterback Michael Hiers completed consecutive passes to Carson Eddy for eight and 29 yards, before handing it off to Eddy on a jet sweep for a 9-yard touchdown run to give Briarwood an 8-0 lead just 1:21 into the contest.

Hiers wasn’t asked to do much on the evening, passing just nine times, but he made the most of those opportunities. He completed his first six passes and finished 7-of-9 for 121 yards and two touchdowns.

“Michael is a very accurate thrower and he’s got some good receivers. As accurate as he is, he’s pretty tough,” Yancey said.

Yancey was most pleased with the second-team offensive line that got an abundance of action in the second half.

“We wanted to get a lot of guys some time, and I was real pleased that our young offensive line came in and really showed the kind of improvement we’ve been seeing out of them the last couple weeks,” he said.

Luke Prewett ran behind that offensive line, and racked up 127 yards on just 13 carries, averaging nearly 10 yards per rush.

Briarwood defeated Shelby County 43-21 last fall. The Wildcats are 3-4 overall this season and have lost back-to-back contests.

The Lions round out region play at Pleasant Grove next week.