By CHRIS MEGGINSON | For the Reporter

BIRMINGHAM – Top-ranked Briarwood Christian extended its region play win streak to 17 games Friday night, as the Lions shut out Woodlawn High School, 46-0, at Lawson Field in Class 5A, Region 4 action.

“It’s always nice to look back and know that over the years the boys have done a real good job with those (region) games. This is another year though. Those games in the past aren’t going to help us much this year. We’ve got to tend our knitting and get a little better in some areas if we’re going to keep on winning,” said Briarwood head coach Fred Yancey.

The Lions were able to score on special teams, defense and offense Sept. 14, beginning with Cade Dickinson falling on the ball in the end zone after a band snap on a Woodlawn punt. Dickinson later added an interception to help put Briarwood in position for another quick score. J.R. Tran-Reno capped ran the ball in from 1-yard out to help make it 13-0 Briarwood. It was the first of four TDs for the Vanderbilt commitment.

Briarwood pulled away in the second quarter with a pair of Tran-Reno TD runs that bookended an 11-yard TD catch from quarterback John Carroll. Dalton Brooks returned a fumble 15 yards for a touchdown to make it 40-0 at the half.

Both teams were held scoreless in the third quarter, but the Lions found the end zone again early in the fourth quarter when third-string senior QB Mason Algren punched in a 1-yard touchdown to close out the scoring, 46-0.

The Lions added to three weeks of offensive trouble by Woodlawn (1-3), which has now been shut out three-straight weeks by a combined 129 points, but Yancey said he thought the Colonels looked improved from what he’d seen on film.

“It’s a region game, and we don’t take any of them for granted,” Yancey said. “I thought Woodlawn came out and was playing us hard. I was giving them a lot of credit for great improvement. Our boys picked up the pace and we were able to get away from them by halftime, and as a result we were able to play everybody on the team.”

Briarwood (3-0, 2-0 Region 4) will host Wenonah (1-1, 1-1 Region 4) on Sept. 21 for the first home game of the season at Lions Pride Stadium – the Lions’ latest home opener in Yancey’s 29-year tenure at Briarwood.