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Briarwood's Luke Prewett had another 100-plus yard rushing performance with three touchdowns in the Lions' dominant region win over John Carroll. (For the Reporter/Larry Dancy)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – Having won three games in a row after a 0-2 start, the Briarwood Lions entered a region matchup with John Carroll on Friday, Oct. 4, with momentum and had even more of a boost as they honored former head coach Fred Yancey on homecoming night.

With the legend in the building to be honored at halftime for his hall of fame career at Briarwood and current head coach Matthew Forester starting to get things going with three wins in a row, the Lions played at a different level from the start to pick up their fourth win in a row behind a 48-16 victory over the visiting Cavaliers.

After a slow first six minutes of the game, the Lions (4-2, 3-1) started the scoring with a strong drive that was capped off on a 15-yard touchdown run from Luke Prewett to take a 7-0 lead with 5:39 to play in the opening quarter.

That seemed to open the flood gates.

The first quarter didn’t see any more points, but just 35 seconds into the second quarter, the Lions extended their lead on a 5-yard run from Tyler Waugh.

Now up 14-0, freshman quarterback Christopher Vizzina had some breathing room and his comfort showed a few minutes later when he hit Christian Ferguson for a 19-yard touchdown pass to put Briarwood in front 21-0 with 5:40 to play in the half.

Briarwood’s defense, which has played lights out this season giving up just 16 points per game, got another big stop shortly after, which put the Lions back to work on offense.

Less than three minutes after their last touchdown, Prewett was able to cap off another drive with an 11-yard touchdown to put the Lions on top 28-0 just before the halftime break.

After honoring Yancey at halftime and doing homecoming festivities, Briarwood got right back to work in the second half with 13 more points in the third quarter.

It started with a strong drive at the beginning of the third quarter that was capped off with Waugh’s second touchdown of the night, this time from 4 yards out.

After the extra point was blocked, the Lions led 34-0 with 9:56 left in the third quarter.

After a quiet few minutes, Briarwood got the ball back and with 3:25 left in the third quarter, which led to Prewett adding his third touchdown of the game from 5 yards out to put the Lions up 41-0.

The Lions, with a comfortable lead, started to get several players experience in the fourth quarter, which led to Chandler Key picking up a 2-yard touchdown run to give Briarwood a 48-0 lead.

John Carroll went on to add 16 points late in the game, but the Lions still picked up an easy 48-16 victory.

Prewett finished the night near 140 rushing yards with three touchdowns, while Vizzina had his best passing game as a young quarterback with a shade less than 130 yards through the air during an accurate night with one touchdown pass.

Briarwood will now travel to Parker on Thursday, Oct. 10, before two tough games against Ramsay and Fairfield.

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