Photo by Todd Lester / www.ToddLesterPhotography.com
Briarwood Football
Action from a game between Woodlawn and Briarwood on Friday, October 7, 2016, at Lions Pride Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Briarwood Christian School football team locked up a playoff berth for the 24th consecutive season last week, as the Lions defeated Woodlawn, 38-6.
“We like that thought,” Yancey said following the game. “It’s been a bunch of years in a row that we’ve been able to do it, and kids take a lot of pride in that tradition. We find a way to get in the playoffs every year. It’s for hard work and a lot of effort on their part.”
The Lions (6-1, 5-0 Class 5A, Region 5) looked a little sleepy in the first half of the win over Woodlawn, but a blocked punt by Gabe Russell and touchdown recovery by Carson Donnelly early in the third quarter started the avalanche to a convincing victory.
After losing the first game of the season to a strong Chelsea team, Briarwood has reeled off six straight wins, including five region contests and a win at then-No. 4 Mortimer Jordan.
The Lions will look to extend that winning streak to seven games as they travel to face Shelby County on Friday at 7 p.m. According to AHSFHS.org, the teams have played 14 times, with Briarwood winning 11, including the last five. The teams last met in 2013; a 29-0 Briarwood win.
The Wildcats are coming off back-to-back losses to region foes Fairfield and Pleasant Grove, both of whom would be playoff teams as of this week.
If Briarwood were able to knock off Shelby County (3-4, 1-4), it would clinch the Region 5 title. The Lions last claimed a region crown in 2011.
