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The Briarwood Christian Lions struggled to find offense at Homewood, falling to 0-2 on the year in 28-7 loss on Friday. (For the Reporter/Neal Wagner)

By TYLER RALEY | Special to the Reporter 

HOMEWOOD – The Briarwood Christian Lions fell to 0-2 in the early going of their 2024 campaign, struggling to move the ball against the Homewood Patriots and falling 28-7 on the road at Waldrop Stadium on Friday, Aug. 30.

The second game of the season served as the end of the Lions’ preparations before hitting region play, doing so without one of their star players in linebacker Luke Reynolds.

Even with Reynolds’ absence, it did not seem to be close to enough to what was needed to stop Homewood quarterback Will Myers.

“Giving up big plays on defense was the nail in the coffin,” said Briarwood head football coach Matthew Forester. “You can’t play a team like Homewood and give up three or four long plays that end up resulting in points. With a sound defense like they have and a quality offense, you can’t be making costly mistakes like not playing the quarterback when you’re supposed to. Us giving up those long plays was detrimental.”

After Briarwood stalled on the opening drive of the game, the Patriots took the field and seemed to be in a bad position after two screen passes lost yardage. That all changed when Myers took a deep shot to senior receiver Kylen Newell to put them inside the red zone.

From there, it was all smooth sailing as Myers ran the ball up the middle from five yards out to draw first blood, putting Homewood up by seven.

While the Lions went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, the defense forced one of its own following the punt, giving the ball back to the offense heading into the second quarter.

Light seemed to shine for Briarwood in this moment, as on third down from its own 25, junior quarterback Charles Dedmon launched a pass deep across the center of the field to Dane Whitehead for a 75-yard touchdown, tying the game at 7-7.

As soon as the momentum flipped towards Forester’s squad, it was right back with Homewood.

On the cusp of crossing midfield, Myers hit Newell again for his second deep pass of the ball game to take the Patriots back into the red zone once again. After Myers hit an eight-yard run, he handed it off to running back Evan Ausmer who ran pushed four yards up the middle, giving the lead back to Homewood.

Unfortunately for the Lions, the second quarter woes were only just beginning.

Another three-and-out that included penalties gave the ball back to the Patriots, which Myers used to his advantage and called his own number to sprint 55 yards to the house, giving his team a 21-7 lead.

Briarwood’s next drive saw the offense moving the ball into Homewood territory, but soon after, defensive back John Griffin reeled in an interception to stop any looming threat.

Just like that, Myers did it again early in the next possession, cashing in a 52-yard touchdown with 27 seconds left in the first half to put the Patriots up 28-7 heading into the break.

While that run put an end to the scoring as a whole, the Lions defense stepped up despite being down multiple possessions.

Briarwood forced punt after punt in the second half, finding ways to consistently get off the field and get the ball back to its offense. In fact, it was so dominant that it forced Homewood to a three-and-out on each drive in the third quarter.

Despite the stand from the defense, the Lions offense never found an answer, despite turning to Brayden Robertson to get some reps under center.

Robertson’s playing time was not any coincidence though, as it acted as preparation for the future.

“We’re going to go and we’re going to make sure we make the proper evaluations. We’re going to make sure we get both (quarterbacks) game ready,” Forester said. “If you’re a backup quarterback, you’re one play away from playing the rest of the season or going in. To get guys game experience against a great team like Homewood, that’s a quality thing that our team can take away and we know we can improve on.”

Briarwood’s first drive in the fourth quarter was its best chance to score again, getting down to the red zone for the only time all game. Although it tried to convert on a fourth down to gather some late momentum, no such luck was in the cards, giving the ball back to the Patriots, ultimately putting the cap on this 28-7 game.

Between Dedmon and Robertson, the two quarterbacks went a combined 11-for-20 with 149 passing yards and one touchdown. The running game did not have much luck either with 32 rushes for 40 yards.

Across the field, Myers went 13-for-17, passing for 132 yards while having seven rushes for 125 yards and three touchdowns on his own.

Despite the struggles in the first half on the other side of the ball, the second half defensive performance posted by the Lions gives Forester optimism on the chemistry that this team can build.

“The big thing is, in order to play football, you have to play together,” Forester said. “Trust is an incredibly important part of playing football and learning to rely on each other. What I saw tonight is the defense really come together, trusting each other that they’re going to do the job. They’re not trying to be heroes, they’re not trying to do somebody else’s job. In the second half, we really settled down, we ran to the football, we hustled, we played with intensity.”

While Briarwood was unable to pull out a win in these first two games, Forester knows that playing quality opponents before region play is setting the Lions up for success down the line.

“Part of my deal in scheduling is I wanted to play good quarterbacks early on in the season,” Forester said. “The fact that our teams had to battle against senior quarterbacks two games in a row, now we’re heading into region play against another senior quarterback. It’s the straw we were drawn as far as how the region is set up and I’m going to give our team every opportunity we can to win that region game.”

Briarwood now prepares for its first game on home turf, taking on the 0-2 Ramsay Rams on Friday, Sept. 6 to open up region play.

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