Briarwood wide receiver John Campbell (3) celebrates a touchdown with his teammates during a game between Homewood and Briarwood on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, at Briarwood High School. Photo by Richard Force.
Briarwood Christian School's football team survived its closest game of the season, holding off Montgomery Catholic 24-21 on Friday night in a non-region matchup between the No. 1 and No. 3 Class AA teams.
Briarwood (6-0) held the ball for the final 4 minutes, 38 seconds, punctuating the win on a fourth-down conversion run by John Campbell.
"Great win, a hard-fought battle against a really good team," Briarwood head coach Matthew Forester said following the game. "We've got to win and learn from it."
Montgomery Catholic answered Briarwood's opening score with an 83-yard touchdown pass from Will Blackwell to Will Brantley, the longest play by either team all night.
Jackson Reyer opened the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run, and Evan Ball's 27-yard field goal made it 10-7 after Brantley's long touchdown catch tied it.
Montgomery Catholic took its first lead of the night on Kaiden Johnson's 4-yard touchdown run, but Jamison Barnes found Charlie Allen for a 6-yard touchdown to tie it at 14-14 before halftime. Blackwell's second touchdown pass, a 19-yarder to Elijah Nunnelly, put the Knights back in front 21-17 entering the fourth quarter, but Barnes and Allen connected again, this time from 25 yards out, to give Briarwood the lead for good at 24-21.
Briarwood outgained Montgomery Catholic 416-221 for the game, led by a ground attack that produced 252 yards on 47 carries. Reyer ran for 88 yards and a touchdown, and Barnes finished 11 of 14 passing for 164 yards and two touchdowns, both to Allen. Blackwell threw for 208 yards and two scores for Montgomery Catholic, and Brantley's one catch went for 92 yards and a touchdown.
Briarwood improved to 6-0 overall and remains 3-0 in Private Class AA, Region 2. Montgomery Catholic fell to 4-2 overall and stays 3-0 in Region 1. The Lions play at St. John Paul II next Thursday, as they return to region action.
"We can't play flat, undisciplined football, we've got to be focused each week," Forester said. " We didn't start that way, but we finished that way."
