Briarwood demolishes Hayden to extend win streak to four

Published 12:41 am Saturday, October 26, 2024

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HAYDEN – The Hayden Wildcats proved to be no match for the Briarwood Christian Lions’ freight train of momentum as coach Matthew Forester’s team cruised to a 50-16 win on Oct. 25 at Hayden High School.

The Lions victory is their fourth straight after an 0-5 start to the season as they finished out Class 5A, Region 5 play with a strong statement against the last-place Wildcats.

Briarwood kicked off a 28-point first quarter with Luke Reynolds scored from four yards out in the Wildcat with 9:34 remaining in the opening period.

Brayden Robertson then unleashed a pair of touchdowns, first a pass from Charles Dedmon for a 37-yard score and then a 33-yard rushing touchdown a minute later to make the lead 21-0 with five minutes left in the first.

Reynolds tacked on another 4-yard rushing touchdown for the 28-0 lead after just 12 minutes of play.

The Lions got close to scoring again before having to settle for a 25-yard Garrett Heinemann field goal, making the score 31-0 after the kicker also made all four extra points in the first quarter.

Jackson Reyer made sure Briarwood found the end zone once more before the end of the half, scoring from 18 yards out to put his team up 37-0 going into the halftime break.

With Jamison Barnes in at quarterback, he capped off a Lions drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown to make the lead 43-0 with 5:57 left.

After Briarwood’s backups picked off Hayden’s quarterback, the Wildcats managed to score on the second-stringers and added a two-point conversion to get on the board, making the score 43-8 with 3:20 left in the third.

John Campbell gave the Lions one more touchdown to finish out the night thanks to a 7-yard rushing touchdown, and Harrison Herbert’s point-after made the lead 50-8 just eight seconds into the third.

Hayden scored and got a two-point conversion once more, but it was too little, too late as Briarwood took the 50-16 win.

In all, the Lions rushed for 297 yards off 38 carries and scored six times on the ground.

Reyer was the leading rusher with 88 yards and a touchdown off 13 carries. Robertson ran three times for 63 yards and a touchdown, Barnes rushed seven times for 48 yards and a touchdown and Reynolds had 44 yards and two touchdowns off seven rushes.

Dedmon was 7-for-12 passing for 113 yards and a touchdown, with his longest throw of the day going to Robertson for the 37-yard touchdown. He found six different receivers, with Chance Freeman being the only one to catch multiple passes. He had 24 receiving yards on the night.

Briarwood will finish out the regular season on Nov. 1 with a home game against the McAdory Yellow Jackets at 7 p.m. at Lions Pride Stadium. A win would seal a .500 record for the Lions and end the season with a five-game win streak.