Three different Briarwood Lions scored in a 22-19 region win over third-ranked McAdory last Friday night.

The win tied the Lions with McAdory for second place in Region 4 of Class 5A behind No. 1-ranked Homewood (7-0).

&uot;I was surely proud of the effort,&uot; Briarwood head coach Fred Yancy said. &uot;There’s a lot of things tough about beating an undefeated, No. 3-ranked team at their place, so I am very appreciative of the way the boys played. We played like a championship-caliber team with a lot of determination and grit.&uot;

Yancy said his team is now sitting in a good spot as far as playoffs are concerned.

&uot;No doubt it was a huge win for us,&uot; Yancy said. &uot;Now we are only behind Homewood and we play them in two weeks. McAdory is every bit as good a team as we are, and we had to call upon everything we had inside us to win.&uot;

The Lions face another region opponent in Jackson-Olin (2-5) Friday night at home.

&uot;They are a better team than their record may indicate,&uot; Yancy said. &uot;They have played everyone tough with the exception of Homewood and their two wins are over West End and Brookwood. We cannot look ahead to Homewood or we will be in trouble.&uot;

Briarwood got on the board first when Joe Craddock hit Taylor Hart with a 14-yard scoring strike with 8:12 left in the opening quarter. Ben Bludsworth’s PAT capped a 70-yard, 10-play drive.

McAdory answered with 11:15 left in the second quarter when Nathaniel Smiley capped an 80-yard, 11-play drive with a 3-yard run. Brad Savage’s PAT tied the score at 7-7.

Briarwood added to its lead when senior Grant Lyons sacked the McAdory quarterback in the end zone with 7:16 left in the first half.

David Eady put Briarwood up 15-7 with a 2-yard run with 3:59 left in the second quarter. The 2-point try failed. The score capped a 47-yard, 7-play drive.

After a scoreless third quarter, McAdory cut into the Lion lead with 8:38 left in the game. Smiley capped a 39-yard, 3-play drive with a 26-yard run. The try for 2 failed, and Briarwood clung to a 15-13 lead.

Tim Castille added to that lead with a 20-yard scoring run with 7:35 left in the contest. The score capped a 28-yard, 2-play drive. Bludsworth’s kick made the score 22-13.

McAdory answered 2 minutes later when Smiley capped a 75-yard, 8-play drive with a 3-yard scoring run with 5:12 left in the game. The PAT failed, leaving the final score 22-19.

The Lions finished the game with 240 yards while allowing McAdory 343. Briarwood gained 149 yards on the ground and 91 through the air. McAdory had a balanced attack with 182 rushing yards and 161 passing yards.

Tim Castille led the Lions with 59 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown. He also caught a pass for 9 yards.

Simeon Castille returned five kicks for 115 yards.

Craddock completed 5-of-8 passes for 91 yards with 1 touchdown and an interception.

Hart caught 3 passes for 59 yards and one score.

Bobby Sherman led the defensive attack for Briarwood with 11 tackles, 2 for a loss, 1 sack and 4 pressures. Freshman Andy Davis had 10 tackles and sophomore John Hall recorded 9 tackles including 1 for a loss