By AVERY FORREST | Staff Writer

NORTH SHELBY — The Briarwood Christian Lions will host the American Christian Academy Patriots for a shot at the state finals after defeating the John Carroll Catholic Cavaliers 27-19 on Friday, Nov. 13.

John Carroll started the game with an unusual play call: an onside kick. However, Briarwood recovered the kick and started with the ball at the John Carroll 47-yard line.

From there, the Lions marched down the field with a run-heavy drive that ended with a 9-yard touchdown run from senior running back Jackson Reyer to make it 7-0 early. The Cavaliers weren't deterred by the early deficit.

John Carroll put together an 11-play, four-minute drive that ended with a 3-yard rushing touchdown from Kyan Burroughs. The Cavaliers elected to go for the two-point conversion, but the attempt fell flat, leaving them down 7-6 in the first quarter.

John Carroll attempted another onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, but Briarwood once again recovered it. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Lions, however, pushed them back to their own 21-yard line to start the drive.

The drive lasted only three plays, with a punt giving the Cavaliers the ball back at their own 32-yard line. However, they also saw no success, going three-and-out and giving the Lions the ball back at their own 38-yard line.

Briarwood used the advantageous field position to march down the field with another run-heavy drive. Twelve plays later, Reyer was back in the end zone, this time running it in from 8 yards out. The momentum didn't last long, though, as the Cavaliers blocked the extra point attempt to make it a seven-point game at 13-6 early in the second quarter.

John Carroll used the momentum from the blocked extra point during its next drive. The Cavaliers saw great success through the air, including a huge 34-yard pass from Harrison White to Tj Richardson, who jumped over a defender to make the grab.

The drive ended with yet another rushing touchdown, this time from White, who ran it in from 3 yards out. John Carroll decided to take the extra point this time, tying the game at 13-13 with roughly five minutes left in the half.

Both teams were forced to punt on the next two drives, and the first half ended with a 34-yard field goal attempt by Briarwood. The kick sailed wide left, leaving the teams tied 13-13 at halftime.

The Cavaliers got the ball to start the second half and looked like they were going to put together a good drive after moving from their own 15-yard line to the Briarwood 45. However, two straight incompletions and a delay-of-game penalty led to a punt from midfield.

Things got worse when the punt was shanked and traveled only about 6 yards, giving the Lions the ball back at their own 44-yard line.

The Lions made quick work of the short field, scoring in just 1 minute, 50 seconds on a seven-play drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run from junior quarterback Jamison Barnes. The touchdown and extra point gave Briarwood a 20-13 lead late in the third quarter.

The ensuing John Carroll drive ran out the rest of the third quarter as the Cavaliers moved down the field, partially thanks to back-to-back defensive penalties by Briarwood. White hit Tucker Rice on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 24-yard touchdown to bring the Cavaliers back into the game. However, the Briarwood special teams unit stepped up and got a hand on the extra point attempt to maintain a 20-19 lead.

While simply trying to run down the clock was an option for the Lions on their next drive, they took a different approach. Briarwood needed only five plays to get back into the end zone, with Barnes running it in from 9 yards out to take a 27-19 lead with 10:30 left in the game.

The Cavaliers battled their way to the Briarwood 30-yard line on the next drive, but back-to-back plays that resulted in negative yardage, followed by back-to-back incompletions, turned the ball over on downs to the Lions with just six minutes left.

From there, the Lions ran the ball nine times, ending up at the John Carroll 5-yard line before entering victory formation and walking away with a 27-19 win.

While the Lions defeated the Cavaliers 48-0 during the regular season, Briarwood head coach Matthew Forester expected a challenge the second time around.

“Rematches are always a really tough thing,” he said. “We’ve got to continue to work, get better and improve. This is playoff football, so it doesn’t matter what you win by. The goal is to still be alive, and we’re alive.”

Briarwood will now host the American Christian Academy Patriots in a semifinal game Friday, Nov. 20. The Lions defeated the Patriots 28-14 in their last meeting during the regular season in October.

“ACA is really well coached,” Forester said. “They’ll have a lot of stuff, so we’ll have to be firing on all cylinders and be ready to go. It’s just the little things, the basics, doing your simple assignments really well and not being a hero. But being a guy that shows up every day and does their job.”

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