
Photo by Scott Butler.
Briarwood football
Briarwood Christian quarterback William Gray scrambles against Homewood.
Game 1, 8/28
CHELSEA 21, BRIARWOOD CHRISTIAN 16
At Chelsea, the Lions rallied from behind but could not hold on in the season-opening game of the football season.
The Hornets jumped out to a 9-0 lead at halftime on the strength of a trick play. A lightning delay postponed halftime for roughly an hour. A Briarwood drive ended with Josh Brower’s 25-yard field goal to cut the margin to 9-3. But Chelsea answered with Matt Marquet’s 30-yard run to push the lead back to 15-3.
The Lions rallied to briefly hold a 16-15 lead. A two-point try failed.
Getting the ball back with under three minutes left, Chelsea’s Marquet drove the Hornets back down the field, and then connected with Ben Praytor for a 45-yard TD pass with 56 seconds left for a 21-16 lead and the win.
Game 2, 9/3
JACKSON-OLIN 26, BRIARWOOD CHRISTIAN 20
The Lions opened Class 6A, Region 5 play with a second consecutive heartbreaking loss.
Jackson-Olin scored first on a 22-yard touchdown run by Jonathan McIntosh but the Lions answered with a Josh Brower field goal and a short run by Sam Sherrod to take a 10-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
By halftime, the Mustangs had a 20-10 lead. Briarwood’s defense scored next when Sherrod recovered a poor pitchout in the end zone to cut the lead to 20-17 with Brower’s extra point.
The Lions put together another drive to tie the game at 20. But the Mustangs retook the lead when Angelo Brown took a handoff and burst through the middle of the Lions defense for a 73-yard touchdown run. The PAT failed, leaving J-O ahead 26-20.
Briarwood got the ball back and mounted a drive inside the Mustangs’ 10, but on fourth-and-goal from the 16, William Gray was sacked and lost the ball, sealing the Mustangs’ win.
Game 3, 9/11
HOMEWOOD 27, BRIARWOOD 0
Homewood and Briarwood Christian renewed their rivalry at Lions Pride Stadium on another rainy night.
The Patriots proved to be too much on either side of the ball, scoring on two touchdowns by Derrick Underwood, a run by Carson Griffis and a fumble return for a score by Antarious Mitchell.
The Lions defense stopped the Patriots on occasion, but the Briarwood offense managed just 73 yard of total offense and six first downs as Class 6A’s ninth-ranked team improved to 3-1, 2-0 in the region. Briarwood fell to 0-3, 0-2 in the region.