Last-second win

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, September 16, 2003

Briarwood scored a touchdown and a field goal in the final 2:51 to pull off a 24-21 win over region rival Thompson at Lion Pride Stadium last Friday night.

Simeon Castille fumbled a Thompson punt with the game knotted at 21 with 1:30 left in the game which put Thompson in business in Briarwood territory.

On first down Briarwood’s Taylor Gwaltney sacked Thompson’s Tony Myers, taking the Warriors out of field goal range.

On second down John Post jarred the ball lose from THS’ Eric Bogan and Jonathan Lawrence recovered for Briarwood. Joe Craddock gained 10 yards on first down and Castille made up for his earlier mistake with a 22-yard catch.

&uot;Simeon used his head and raced all the way across the field to get out of bounds instead of trying to make a big play, and that wound up being huge for us,&uot; BCS head coach Fred Yancey said.

Castille saved enough time to give the Lions one shot at the end zone before lining up for a field goal attempt.

That shot fell incomplete and Ben Bludsworth came on to try the game-winner from 41 yards away.

Bludsworth was good on the attempt, a career-long kick, with one second left in the game.

&uot;Both teams played a very strong football game,&uot; Yancey said. &uot;We just happened to have the ball last. They (THS) played as well or better than we did.&uot;

Thompson took it to the Lions for the better part of the game, building a 14-7 lead at the end of three quarters and going up 21-14 with just 4:18 left in the game.

Briarwood would strike first, however, when Andy Davis broke free on a 20-yard scoring run with 6:16 left in the opening quarter. Bludsworth’s PAT gave the Lions a 7-0 lead.

Thompson would answer with 10:32 left in the first half when Bogan scored from four yards out.

Briarwood kept the lead, however, when Post came through the THS line to block Aaron Hawk’s PAT.

Thompson grabbed the lead with 6:38 left in the third quarter on a one-yard run by Myers. Myers ran in the two-point conversion to give the Warriors a 14-7 lead at the half.

Briarwood knotted the score at 14 when Davis broke free on a 12-yard scamper.

The run capped a 59-yard, 9-play drive. Bludsworth’s kick was good.

Thompson went back on top when Bogan scored on a 1-yard plunge with 4:18 left in the game.

Hawk’s kick was good, giving the Warriors a 21-14 lead.

Briarwood answered in quick fashion when Davis scored on a 30-yard run. The score capped a 3-play, 51-yard drive.

Bludsworth kick tied the score at 21-21. Bludsworth set a new school record for career field goals with 9 with his game-winner.

Myers led the Warriors with 20 rushes for 101 yards and a score.

He also completed 5-of-9 passes for 50 yards. Bogan rushed 20 times for 72 yards and a pair of scores. Adams caught 2 passes for 30 yards and rushed 6 times for 16 yards.

Davis finished the night with 93 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns on just 11 carries. Craddock went 12-of-19 for 147 yards.

Charles Hoke caught 4 passes for 46 yards, Stephenson caught 2 for 42 yards and Crumpler caught 3 for 23 yards.

Up next for the Lions is region opponent West End (0-3). The Lions will travel to Fair Park for the 7 p.m. game.

Thompson will next host a tough opponent in McAdory. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m