Lions come back late for upset win at Wenonah
Fred Yancey has been a head football coach at Briarwood Christian for more than a quarter of a century, so he’s seen his share of close games.
But after the Lions’ 15-14 comeback upset at Wenonah on Friday, he was still a bit out of breath.
“It was as tough as the score is tight,” Yancey said. “They gave us way more than we could handle most of the night.”
Indeed, the host Dragons got off to a fast start, scoring both of their touchdowns within a span of one minute, 46 seconds late in the first quarter. Wide receiver/defensive back JaDarius Redwine was on the end of both scoring plays — a 5-yard pass from quarterback Carlos Rogers, followed by a pick-six interception return off an errant throw by Briarwood quarterback William Gray.
Though Wenonah (2-1, 1-1 Class 5A Region 5) continued to keep the visitors on their heels, they failed to convert any opportunities — including another interception late in the first half — into scores.
Gray struggled early, both throwing and running with the ball, and completed just two passes in six attempts with two picks before intermission.
“I started out rough and I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my throws, but the team really rallied around me,” Gray said.
Briarwood (2-1, 2-0 region) turned the momentum around not long after halftime, when Yancey reached down into his large bag of tricks.
The Lions got good field position thanks to an interception by Carson Donnelly, but were facing third down and five at the Dragon 28. That’s where they ran a play that sent their entire line all the way over to the left side of the field, while Gray, his center and his backs stayed on the right, confusing the Wenonah defense. Gray then fired to tight end Kolby Kwarcinski, who dashed 28 yards for the Lions’ first touchdown with 9:12 left in the third quarter.
“We’ve used that in years past,” Yancey said. “It’s just a way to isolate folks and hopefully confuse them a little bit and maybe get a big play. We needed that kind of stuff tonight, because physically they [Wenonah] were winning a lot of battles.”
Neither team could make any headway for the rest of the period and half of the next, but Briarwood took the momentum when they held the Dragons on downs at the Lions 19. From there, Yancey pulled out another trick, with Gray on the receiving end of a 58-yard pass from fullback John Tran-Reno, which brought Briarwood down to the hosts’ 20.
Four plays later on fourth down and nine, Gray threw a line drive to Kwarcinski, who pulled down a leaping catch at the 2-yard line. Gray then scored from a yard away two plays later.
The game-winning play came on the 2-point conversion, in which Gray connected with Barrett Tindall near the pylon to take the lead by a point halfway through the final quarter.
Going for two points on the conversion was Yancey’s plan from the get-go.
“I told the coaches at halftime that is we can shut them down and score the next one [touchdown], we’ll definitely go for two and I think we’ll have it,” Yancey said.
The Dragons had one march down to the Lions’ 16, but that ended with 1:47 left when Briarwood’s Jonathan Hill picked off a Rogers pass.
Gray was 7-for-12 in passing for 11 yards. Kwarcinski caught four passes for 93 yards and a touchdown.
The Lions host Fairfield next week in Region 5 play. The Purple Tigers were 12-7 winners over Woodlawn at home Friday, and are unbeaten in the region.
The Dragons travel next week to Shelby County.