Postgame Recap | Briarwood wins shootout over St. Clair Co. punches ticket to Super 7

Birmingham, AL – The top ranked Briarwood Chrisitan Lions advanced to the AHSAA state finals for the first time since 2010 with a 37-33, come from behind win over the St. Clair County Saints Friday night at a foggy Lion’s Pride Stadium.  

The last time the two region 5 foes meet, midway through the regular season, the Lions vanquished the Saints 31-6.  Matt Glover’s St. Clair squad came out firing on this visit to Cahaba Valley.  The Saints put up points on three of their first four possessions to take a 27-10 lead over the undefeated Lions into the locker room at the half.  

Carson Eddy started the Briarwood comeback on the Lion’s second possession of the third, bolting into the endzone from inside the five and pulling the Lions within two scores.  On the next Briarwood drive, Luke Prewett hauled in his second score of the game, this one through the air from 25 yards out cutting the Saints lead to three with just over a quarter to play.  

Andrew Sherrod picked off a Michael Fisher pass deep in Lions territory to end a Saints scoring threat and hand the ball back to quarterback Michael Heirs and the Briarwood offense.  After leading the Lions down the field through the air Hiers called his own number slicing into the endzone for a 25 yard score giving the home team their first lead of the game, 31-27, midway through the final period.  

St. Clair answered back on their next possession as quarterback Michael Fisher hooked up with JaVarrius Johnson for a 62 yard score.  

The Saints now lead 33-31 with less than two minutes to play. 

The Lions offense sliced through the fog on their next possession driving the ball to the Saints one yard line with 23 seconds to play.  Standout junior J.R. Tran-Reno took the snap from under center and dove into the endzone putting Briarwood on top by four and punching their ticket to Tuscaloosa.  

Lions quarterback Michael Hiers finished the contest with 393 yards, completing 32 of 43 passes and accounting for three scores.  Carson Eddy lead the Lions receiving corps with 14 grabs for 134 yards, Tran-Reno hauled in seven catches for 120 including the game winning score and an interception in the final seconds that put the game on ice.  

St. Clair County finished the season at 10-4, finishing third in 5A region 5 behind Briarwood and the Wenonah Dragons.  

Fred Yancey’s Lions will face the St. Paul’s Saints Thursday night at 7:00 in Bryant-Denny Stadium for the AHSAA 5A state title. 

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