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The Briarwood Lions got a big night from Luke Reynolds on Friday, Sept. 27 to score 31 unanswered points and take down No. 4 Leeds 31-14. (For the Reporter/Markee Canada)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Publisher

NORTH SHELBY – In his first game since being injured in the season opener, Luke Reynolds made his presence known against No. 4 Leeds to help lead the Briarwood Lions to their first win of the season.

In a battle against the undefeated Greenwave, it was Reynolds’ 168 yards and four touchdowns that stole the spotlight and helped Briarwood score 31-unanswered points in a 31-14 win.

It snapped a streak of heartbreaking games for the Lions, who have gone into the fourth quarter with a chance to win three straight, but have ultimately dropped each by 13 or less.

“It’s not about your hard times, it’s about how you fight and get better,” head coach Matthew Forester said after the win. “The fact that we are in week six and our kids are still fighting, it’s a testament to them and how they’re raised. These kids have never stopped. We’ve been in the fourth quarter in four out of the five games and we’ve been fighting. We just had to figure out a way to put it away and tonight we did. That little secret weapon was Luke Reynolds tonight because he helped seal the deal.”

Briarwood faced early adversity in the game when they fell behind 14-0 midway through the second quarter, but the Lions flipped a switch at that point.

After scoring a touchdown late in the second quarter to cut into the deficit, they came out and scored 24 second-half points on the legs of Reynolds and a strong night defensively to pick up the victory.

“Luke’s played in two quarters out of five games,” Forester said. “It’s nice to have him for a full game. He’s a special player that brings something to our offense.”

In a rainy and windy first half, the game played to the elements with both teams bringing a physical running attack to the table to pair with their strong defenses.

Leeds, however, was able to find the early cracks in the Lions’ defense.

The Greenwave struck first as the run opened up a big pass play on fourth-and-7 from the Briarwood 25-yard line. Quarterback Conner Nelson hit Brooks Ford for the 25-yard strike down the sideline that put Leeds in front 7-0 in less than three minutes of action.

As the rain and wind picked up, the offensive production slowed and the clock sped up.

Eventually, Leeds put together another lengthy drive that was aided by a personal foul from Briarwood on third-and-15 from midfield.

The penalty kept the drive alive and eventually set up first and goal for the Greenwave, who capitalized on a 5-yard touchdown from Nelson to make it 14-0 with 6:08 left in the half.

Briarwood, however, turned to Luke Reynolds on the ensuing drive.

Reynolds started the drive with a 51-yard run from the quarterback position and followed that with two more strong runs in a row to set up first-and-goal.

He eventually finished off the drive with a 2-yard plunge on third-and-goal from the 2 to trim the deficit to 14-7 going into the halftime break.

Briarwood carried the momentum into the second half.

It looked like Leeds would be able to strike first after a muffed punt set the Greenwave up near midfield early in the half, but they were ultimately forced to punt again, and this time, a bad snap flipped the field and gave the Lions the ball at the Leeds 16-yard line.

Briarwood capitalized quickly with a 29-yard field goal from Garrett Heinemann to make 14-10 midway through the third.

The Lions then forced another punt and went back to work with their best drive of the night that featured a 20-yard run from Reynolds, a screen pass to Eli Thompson for 28 yards on second-and-20, a 15-yard pass to Dane Whitehead and then a touchdown run from Reynolds to make it 17-14.

Now with the lead for the first time, Briarwood played with confidence the rest of the way on both sides of the ball.

The defense forced another quick punt and then followed immediately with a 44-yard run from Ben McNulty. Reynolds then hit defensive lineman Garrett Witherington for a 15-yard pass on a wildcat play before Reynolds punched in his third touchdown of the night to make it 24-14.

Then came the play of the night.

After the defense forced another punt, Reynolds took the ball up the right sideline and broke tackle after tackle on his way to rumbling 53 yards with defenders draped on him and falling off the entire way.

He then punched in his fourth touchdown of the night to put the game on ice as the Lions finished off the 31-14 win.

“It’s a really nice thing when the boys come out and they’re willing to put it on the line,” Forester said. “We really mashed the ball and got in the groove. When we don’t have penalties that put us in bad situations, we can really run the football and have success.”

Briarwood will now hit the road to take on 5-0 Corner in need of a big win to keep their best chances of a playoff berth alive.

“It’s a second half that can be what we make it,” Forester said. “You take your season in sections and we’re starting our second half with confidence after we had a good night tonight.”

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