Briarwood falls to stout Wenonah defense in semfinals
BIRMINGHAM – Football can be a cruel game sometimes.
The Briarwood Christian School football team learned that the hard way, as the Lions saw their phenomenal season come to an end on Friday night, in a 14-8 loss to visiting Wenonah in the Class 5A semifinals.
With just over two minutes to play and trailing by eight, Briarwood stopped the Wenonah offense deep in its own territory. The Dragons were set to punt it away, but lined up without a key component: the punter.
Wenonah was forced to take a timeout to align itself properly. Taking the snap in his own end zone, the Dragon punter rolled out to the right and inexplicably punted the ball straight into the furiously-approaching arms of Hudson Hartsfield and Jacob Hawk.
The two Lions scampered after the loose ball, with Hawk eventually falling on it. But he was just over the end line in the back of the end zone, resulting in the play being ruled a safety, to make the score 14-8.
Instead of having a chance to tie the game with a two-point conversion, Briarwood was forced to receive the free kick after the safety. But on the first play of the ensuing possession, William Gray was intercepted by Xavier Stewart, allowing Wenonah to drain the remaining portion of the clock.
“We came out here to win tonight, and we fell short of that,” Briarwood head coach Fred Yancey said.
Briarwood (12-2) saw its 12-game winning streak come to an end, but not without a fight. Trailing 7-0 at the half, J.R. Tran-Reno drew the Lions within a point by returning the opening kickoff of the second half 93 yards for what would be Briarwood’s only touchdown of the evening. The Lions attempted a two-point conversion, but Carson Eddy was stopped short.
“It was just tremendous,” Yancey said of the momentum Tran-Reno’s kickoff return provided. “We just weren’t able to solve their defense enough to score some points.”
Wenonah (12-2) responded with a quick touchdown drive to extend the lead to 14-6 in the third quarter. Carlos Rogers began the drive with a 22-yard run and finished it three plays letter with a 19-yard scramble to score.
After a Lions punt, the Dragons threatened to put the game out of reach with a long scoring drive. On fourth-and-goal from the 5-yard line, Hartsfield stepped in front of Rogers’ pass to claim the end zone interception.
Briarwood’s defense faced a Wenonah attack that had scored at least 42 points in four straight games, but the Lions held their own. Running back Telvin Miller broke loose for 154 yards on 20 carries and a 51-yard score in the second quarter, but contained the rest of the Dragon offense.
“They’ve been getting in the 40s most games,” Yancey said. “We knew our defense would give them a tough game. We just needed to trade points with them better than we did. “
The closest Briarwood got to scoring on offense in the fourth quarter was the 17-yard line, where a drive stalled and a fourth down pass was stopped well short of the line of the line to gain.
Gray finished 17-of-26 through the air for 156 yards, including 74 yards from Kolby Kwarcinski and 31 from Carson Eddy. Gray and Kwarcinski are part of a senior class that has won 21 games over the past three years.
“How thankful I am and proud of them I am for this wonderful season,” Yancey said of his message to the seniors. “Their body of work was a great one.”
The two teams met earlier in the season, as Region 5 foes. Briarwood handed Wenonah its only loss in the region, with a 15-14 come-from-behind triumph.
The game pitted two longtime coaches, with Ronald Cheatham in his 28th season, and Yancey his 27th. Yancey has won the state title three times in his tenure, but this season marks Cheatham’s first appearance in the championship game.
“It’s just an unbelievable experience that I’ve always wanted to share with these kids,” Cheatham said.
Wenonah will take on Beauregard in the Super 7 next Thursday in Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Briarwood’s season comes to a close.