Photo by Todd Kwarcinski
Briarwood Football
Briarwood held on to beat Madison Academy on Friday night.
MADISON – There’s a two-minute drill and then there’s the final minutes of Friday night’s contest between the Briarwood Christian School football team and Madison Academy.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Briarwood head coach Fred Yancey said of his team’s 21-17 triumph 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.
“During the game we didn’t have enough time to throw the ball a lot because they were rushing the passer, but there at the end our offensive line did a great job protecting William, and when he has time to throw, he can make some great throws,” Yancey said.
The first half was slow for both teams as the defenses eliminated scoring opportunities. Gray broke the scoring silence with a 2-yard quarterback keeper with 1:55 to play in the second quarter for a 7-0 lead. Both teams turned the ball over in the final 1:20 of play in the first half. The Lions forced three first-half turnovers.
“We made enough mistakes to lose the game, but our defense allowed us to hang in there and give us a chance to come alive in the end, because they played so well,” Yancey said.
Madison Academy evened the score early in the third quarter, blocking the Lions’ first punt of the second half. Jordan Garrett later punched in a 3-yard touchdown run to tie it, 7-7, and set the stage for the late fourth-quarter frenzy.
Briarwood (9-1) will return home Nov. 4 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.
