Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

HOOVER – With the wind blowing hard and cold temperature making its presence felt in the early stages of April, the Briarwood Christian Lions were searching for a second half surge to secure an area title and a trip back to the playoffs.

As the score sat at 2-1 in the 53rd minute, just a short time after the Spain Park Jaguars had scored, the Lions were driving down the field when Sawyer Felton put in a cross that found the foot of Ian Robertson. That foot put it into the back of the net to stretch the lead back out to two goals, which was just what was needed to help lead them to a victory on the road.

Briarwood defeated Spain Park 4-1 on Tuesday, April 8, securing a spot in the Class 6A state playoffs for yet another season and maintaining its perfect area record in the process.

From the opening kick, the game took a rapid pace, which was kept up for most of the game as long as the Lions had possession of the ball. However, that rapid pace did not lead to much scoring in the first half, as things did not get going for a while in the contest.

Briarwood found numerous scoring opportunities in the early portions of the game, but it was not until the 23rd minute that it actually capitalized. It was at that moment that Spencer Martens got hold of a ball inside the box on a carom, making it 1-0 in the first half.

Following that goal, the game continued to remain tightly contested, with neither team seemingly being able to break away from their opponent.

In the 37th minute though, that fate began to turn slightly towards the Lions. As a ball was about to go out of bounds for a Jags goal kick, Lucio Cortez got on the ground and slid to save it, ultimately getting it to Thomas Lanier for a second goal right before the intermission, extending it to 2-0.

Coming out of the half however, Spain Park brought some energy on offense. In the 46th minute, Bobby Propper made his way through the left side through multiple gaps in the defense. Sitting at an awkward angle to the goal, Propper put a lob up and got it behind the Briarwood goalkeeper for a score, cutting it to 2-1.

Despite the push to make a comeback, the Lions made a run again in the 53rd minute. Felton made a push towards the goal before making a cross to an open Robertson through a tight gap, who capitalized and scored. That goal extended the game back out to 3-1.

From then, Briarwood controlled the pace and grasped all the momentum they had with them until the end.

Just for good measure though, the Lions wanted one final goal. That’s exactly what they got in the 63rd minute of the game when Lanier got into Briarwood’s offensive third and took a shot from way outside the 18-yard box. The ball deflected off of Winston Owens hands in goal and bounced into the net for a score to put the nail in the coffin at 4-1.

While the Jags tried to make another burst, nothing got working for them, and they ultimately dropped another area game on the year.

Lanier easily had a large impact on the game, causing problems for Spain Park when he had possession of the ball and making his mark on a big area win for Briarwood.

With the victory, the Lions improved to 14-4 overall and 5-0 in the area, extending their winning streak to nine games. More importantly, they clinched the Class 6A, Area 8 title and a home playoff game in round one. They hope to continue that success in a home game against Montgomery Academy on Thursday, April 10 at 4 p.m. at Briarwood Christian School.

Meanwhile, the Jags fall to 4-12-2 on the year and 0-5 in the area, dashing their hopes at a postseason berth in 2025. They will try to bounce back in a non-area contest on Thursday, April 10 when they travel to take on the Thompson Warriors at 7 p.m. at Thompson High School.