Photo courtesy of Todd Kwarcinski
The Briarwood football team following a game earlier this season.
MADISON -- If the Briarwood Christian School football team could have the first quarter back, Friday night's 41-21 loss to James Clemens might have been a different story.
The Lions dug themselves a 27-0 deficit in the game's first 12 minutes, but after that played a solid ball game.
"We battled and we fought," Briarwood head coach Matthew Forester said following the game. "We did get in a hole, but we were willing to fight our way out, we executed some things and it was a learning experience for us."
Briarwood (5-1) fell behind 34-0 before scoring three straight touchdowns and cutting the deficit to 34-21 in the third quarter.
"When things didn't go our way earlier, we didn’t pout. We just put our nose to the grindstone and kept working," Forester said.
The game against James Clemens (4-2) was Briarwood's second against a Class 7A opponent this fall, with the Lions letting a lead slip in the fourth quarter in a loss to Spain Park earlier this season.
"It's a really good learning experience for us," Forester said of playing bigger schools.
The game between the two schools was thrown together on Monday afternoon. Briarwood was originally slated to play Mortimer Jordan, but it had to forfeit due to COVID-19. The Lions then arranged a game with McAdory, but that also fell through. James Clemens accepted a forfeit from Lee-Huntsville this week as well, so the two teams played a game in which the stats counted, but both teams earned a win on their record.
"We want to play," Forester said. "We want these boys to have a great senior year and football season, and we want to play as many games as the state will allow us."
Despite the ensuing headaches with logistical and tactical preparations, the Lions wanted to play.
"If it allows these guys to play football, I'll do whatever I need to do," Forester said.
Briarwood returns to Class 6A, Region 5 play next week against Shades Valley.
