Lions carrying momentum into playoffs
Briarwood Christian School head football coach Fred Yancey has now officially seen it all after the Lions defeated Madison Academy 21-17 last Friday night.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Yancey said following his team's win in the regular season finale. “I’ve been doing this a lot of years, and I can’t think of many times that I’ve been this excited for a team to hang in there and win such a close game.”
Tied 7-7 with just over two minutes to play, the two teams combined for 24 points in the final 2:06 of the game. The Mustangs took a 10-7 lead with 2:06 remaining on a field goal by Sean Dorney.
Briarwood then returned the kickoff to the 40, and then J.R. Tran-Reno made a catch-and-run to take the lead, 14-10 lead with 1:52 to play. Twenty seconds later, the Mustangs pushed back in front, 17-14, with a long touchdown pass. Briarwood once again created good field position again and William Gray then found Carson Eddy for a 64-yard touchdown connection and a 21-17 Briarwood lead with 1:02 to play.
Madison Academy looked to add one more lead change, facing one last chance from 29 yards out with one second to play. Mustangs’ quarterback Grayson Edgemon hit KJ Malone in the back of the end zone for what appeared to be the game-winning touchdown, but the ball popped loose as Malone hit the turf to secure the Lions’ their ninth-straight win.
After the wild win to round out the 10-game slate, each game now becomes a one-game season, as the Lions advance to the Class 5A state playoffs. It is the 24th consecutive year Briarwood has qualified for the postseason.
Briarwood (9-1) will return home this week to host Corner in the first round of the AHSAA Class 6A playoffs.
“Next week starts the new season and you don’t get a chance to play poorly, so we’ll try to be pretty even in our evaluation of how temporary it could be if we don’t keep working,” Yancey said last week.
Despite being the No. 4 seed in Class 5A, Region 6, Corner appears to be no slouch, having finished the season 7-3 overall. The Yellow Jackets offense has averaged 30.6 points per game, but the defense will need to be prepared to face the strong Briarwood running attack. Corner is allowing 26.1 points per game.
The two programs played each other six times in the 1990s, with Briarwood winning five.
The game is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at Lions Pride Stadium.
The winner is set to face the winner between Russellville and Guntersville in the second round.
- Chris Megginson contributed to this story.