Lions pounce on St. Clair County
BIRMINGHAM — St. Clair County didn’t have an answer for JR Tran-Reno.
The Briarwood Christian School junior scored four touchdowns — three rushing, one receiving — in his team’s 31-6 homecoming victory on Friday night at Lions Pride Stadium.
Briarwood head coach Fred Yancey said Tran-Reno, who lined up in the backfield, under center and at wide receiver, was on fire. Undoubtedly, he ignited the team.
“He’s a very good quarterback. He’s a very good running back. He’s a very good receiver, and if I threw him on defense, he’d be a very good defensive player,” Yancey said. “He’s a fine young man who’s also a great football player.”
Tran-Reno jump-started the Lions (6-0, 4-0 in Class 5A, Region 5) in the second quarter when he turned a routine wide receiver screen into a 63-yard touchdown. Quarterback Michael Hiers hit Tran-Reno along the right sideline near the line of scrimmage, where he made a man miss. He then won a sprint to the end zone to give Briarwood a 6-0 lead.
Noah Nall, who nailed a 24-yard field goal later in the game, converted his first of four extra points to make it 7-0 with 4:34 until halftime.
“Offensively, it was a matter of hammering away, and at some point something good was going to break,” Yancey said. “Tran-Reno broke.”
Hiers connected for another big gain a few minutes later. Toward the end of the second quarter, he hit Carson Eddy on a 50-yard post route that set up first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Tran-Reno lined up under center and dived into the end zone on the ensuing play.
St. Clair County (4-2, 3-1) cut into Briarwood’s 14-0 lead in the third quarter on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Michael Fisher to Grayson Beatty. Saints defensive back Garrett Sanders intercepted Hiers' pass near midfield on the previous Lions possession.
Briarwood disrupted the extra point attempt, however, holding the Saints to six points. That’s all they would get.
Briarwood’s defense held firm the rest of the way, forcing its second fumble of the game and causing multiple turnovers on down.
“Our defense is stellar,” Tran-Reno said. “Our coaches are great on defense. We have really good athletes on defense.”
Tran-Reno extended his Lions’ lead with another 1-yard dive at 1:23 in the third quarter. His final touchdown of the night came on a 70-yard rush in the final frame. Tran-Reno finished the game with 87 yards rushing on seven carries. He also totaled 87 yards on four receptions.
“I think we really played well as a team," Tran-Reno said. "Our will to win really persevered us through the game. We started off slow, but we’re always confident in our ability to win. We never let up.”
Hiers went 23-of-31 for 295 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Eddy hauled in 12 catches for 143 yards.
Both teams will continue region play next week. Briarwood will travel to Woodlawn, and St. Clair County will host Fairfield.