Briarwood Christian School came from behind last Friday night to hand the Thompson Warriors a heart-breaking loss in the final 50 seconds of the game.

BCS sophomore tight end Charles Hoke caught a broken-up pass on fourth down and seven at the 20 yard line with 46 seconds to go in the game.

The pass, intended for game standout David Eady, slipped through Eady’s hands into those of Thompson linebacker Tony Bell. Bell tipped the ball and Hoke grabbed it from the air at the 5 yard line to find the end zone and make the score 16-14. The successful two-point conversion put the Lions ahead of the Warriors, 17-14.

Three first downs and 51 yards later, time ran out for the Warriors, and they lost the game.

Briarwood coach Fred Yancey said he was pleased with his team’s performance.

&uot;I really was. To go out and play on the road against a quality team like Thompson and then to come back late in the game &045; I was very pleased,&uot; he said.

Yancey said the loss of standout Tim Castille for the game did not deter his players from rising to the occasion.

&uot;He’s a great player, no doubt about it, and obviously when he’s out, you miss him; but David Eady did a great job playing tailback,&uot; he said.

The first score of the game came on the Warriors’ side of the ball with 7 minutes, 47 seconds left in the second quarter.

Thompson senior Andrew Hairston scored from the 2 yard line following a 37-yard run by quarterback Brett Rushing. Rushing kicked the PAT, and Thompson led 7-0.

A bad snap from the Thompson center led to a safety for the Lions, making the score 7-2 with 3:36 to go in the second quarter.

At the 6:34 mark of the third quarter, THS quarterback Rushing took the ball 72 yards from the Briarwood 28 yard line to score. Following the successful PAT kick by Rushing, THS led 14-2.

Briarwood scored on its next drive with four first downs leading them to the 11 yard line.

BCS quarterback Craddock scored around the left end from the 2 yard line to make the score 14-9.

Following a successful PAT by junior Ben Bludsworth, the score was 14-10 with 1:35 to go in the third quarter.

Hoke’s touchdown with 46 seconds left ended Thompson’s hopes for a win.

&uot;We can’t make mistakes like we did and win games,&uot; said THS coach Ricky Seale. &uot;We did well defensively, but we just had too many mistakes on offense. You can’t turn over the ball four times and expect to win.&uot;

The Warriors had two interceptions and seven fumbles, two of which were lost to BCS defenders.

Those turnovers turned out to be the difference in the end.

In fact, the Lions’ final score came on a fumble recovery by BCS linebacker Bobby Sherman at the 44 yard line with 4:38 left in the game.

THS quarterback Rushing led the Warriors running game with 122 yards on 11 runs. He passed for 89 yards, attempting 17 passes with nine completions and two interceptions.

Senior Warrior Kenny Mahone caught four passes for 32 yards; and junior Tony Bell rushed for 43 yards.

Hairston rushed three times for five yard and one touchdown and caught two passes for 30 yards.

Leading tacklers for Thompson were senior Casey Pnazek, senior Alonzo Barrett, junior Anthony Wilson, senior Kurt Jones, senior Owen Griffin, junior Tony Bell, junior Robin Oden, junior Tony Myers, senior Kenny Mahone and junior Darious Sheffield.

Briarwood ran for 172 total yards, 30 passing during 17 attempts and six completions.

For BCS, Eady had 63 yards on 18 rush attempts.

Junior Westby Anderson caught three passes for 29 yards and returned a kickoff for 28 yards. Junior Simeon Castille had one interception for 18 yards, and junior Michael McDavid had an interception for 21 yards.

Leading tacklers for the Lions included senior Brad Acton with six; senior Bobby Sherman with 12; freshman Andy Davis with six; junior Castille with seven; sophomore John Hall with six; sophomore Andrew McCain with six; junior Ben Bludsworth with five; senior Grant Lyons with five; senior Matt Kimbrell with 10; and junior Jonathan Lawrence with five.

The Briarwood Lions face West End for homecoming next week in a Region game.

&uot;We anticipate it will be a tough game,&uot; coach Yancey said. &uot;But if we play as well as we did against Thompson, we’ll come through it OK.&uot;

The Thompson Warriors will face Class 5A, No. 5-ranked McAdory away next Friday night.

&uot;They do a lot on both offense and defense that can hurt you. Their athletes can run on both sides of the ball, and they play kids both ways. We’re hoping to use that against them.&uot;