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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – As Carson Tucker’s free kick rifled into the back of the Pelham Panthers’ net in the 71st minute, the Briarwood Christian Lions took to the fence of Lions Pride Stadium to celebrate their all-but-clinched perfect area record.

For Lions coach Mike Bautista, it was the exclamation point his side craved ahead of the playoffs.

“I told the guys at the beginning, this is a matter of starting continual noise going into the playoff tournament,” Bautista said. “I want the guys to keep going, stay hungry. 6-0 the area and just keep that going. And they showed that tonight. They showed composure at first, but as the game wore on, they settled in and started attacking and my goodness, what a great night to be a Briarwood Lion.”

However, there was somebody else celebrating on the other side of the fence.

The Chelsea Hornets entered Thursday, April 17 needing a Briarwood win by three goals to punch their ticket to the Class 6A playoffs. With players and coaches in attendance to see if their season would continue, the free kick got the score line exactly where they needed it to be–3-0 Lions.

As the full-time whistle blew and both Briarwood and Chelsea celebrated, the Lions their actual 3-0 win and the Hornets their playoff berth, Pelham collapsed on the pitch as the No. 7 team in Class 6A was eliminated from playoff contention.

The result came after the Panthers were less than 15 seconds away from clinching a spot in the playoffs a week prior against Chelsea. There, Max Wever’s last-second goal cut the deficit to one to give the Hornets a fighting chance, but they still needed to overcome a six-goal difference in the area goal differential tally.

A four-goal win over Spain Park on Tuesday, April 15 put the ball in Pelham’s court, and Briarwood scored the other three goals needed to put Chelsea up by one in the goal differential tally and clinch the playoff spot.

“The fact that we got all those things to line up is unbelievable,” said Chelsea coach Lee Miller, who was in attendance along with many of his players.

As for the game itself, the Lions dominated possession throughout the half as they used their speed to take command of the game with quick, dangerous offensive possessions.

Briarwood’s first big chance came on an eighth-minute shot that forced a kick save from Panthers keeper Jeffery Palacios. Both teams then exchanged catches on free kicks, with the Lions save coming in the 17th minute before a charging Palacios effort in the 19th minute.

Briarwood got a dangerous break in the 25th minute that ended in a Spencer Martens long shot Pelham immediately took the ball at the other end for a cross from Johan Favero that landed in a favorable position in the box but couldn’t find a teammate.

Thomas Lanier then had a big pair of chances with a 28th-minute shot that was caught and a 31st-minute corner kick that nearly went in for an Olimpico. The Lions followed that up with a pair of blistering long shots, one of which ricocheted off the football crossbar.

Briarwood’s momentum continued until the 40th minute when it won a free kick with less than 10 seconds left. Ironically enough though, it took stopping the game off a late yellow card on Pelham for the Lions to find the back of the net.

Briarwood took its time and sent in a cross from near the right sideline into the box, and Lanier rose up and fired a header into the top left corner of the net past a diving Palacios, scoring with just four seconds left to take a 1-0 lead into the break.

Both teams settled into a calmer pace in the second half as they were content to build up possessions.

Jair Camargo tried to generate offense in the 44th minute with a cross, but Pelham couldn’t get any other players in the box.

The Panthers would get another chance in the 54th minute when a yellow card gave them a free kick just before the midfield line. Palacios boomed in the cross and found Favero, who sent a low shot to the near post that forced a save from Briarwood’s keeper.

Briarwood started stacking chances again just past the hour mark thanks to a 61st-minute header from Britt Wagoner that went wide and a 67th-minute Lanier shot that was deflected for a corner.

However, that corner was what produced the second goal.

The Lions found Cameron Harrington in the box near the far post, and he headed the ball across the goal and into the netting to double the lead in the 68th minute.

That goal proved to be the turning point as Briarwood grabbed the game by the horns and put it away just three minutes later.

Tucker stepped up to take a free kick atop the box, and he fired a laser past the traffic and into the goal to make it a 3-0 lead and cap off the victory, giving the Lions a 6-0 area record and putting Chelsea into the playoffs over Pelham.

Despite the success from open play, all three of Briarwood’s goals came off set pieces. For Bautista, that was an affirmation of one of their offseason goals, which was to improve their free kick and corner kick conversion rates.

In the entire 2024 season, the Lions scored just twice off set pieces. Against Pelham, they scored three times, and it continued a season-long trend.

“We were not very clinical when it came to those chances,” Bautista said of their set pieces last season. “So, we worked a lot on that, especially in the offseason and through the season itself. And that’s actually been one of our great weapons. We’ve been getting to rise up and convert on those chances. And that was a difference.”

However, the playoff format and stakes going into the match meant no matter the result, either the No. 5 Hornets or No. 7 Panthers would be eliminated at the hands of Briarwood. That was something Bautista was not looking forward to.

He said that he did not coach his players to specifically score the third goal to eliminate Pelham, but he did lament that the area play format meant only two teams from what he called the “Area of Death” would advance to the playoffs.

“I think the area of death that we were in, it’s a shame that two of the teams don’t get a chance to play at the playoffs,” Bautista said. “I just think that’s the first thing that’s in my head that Pelham, absolute quality side and took us to the brink of where we had to force something special to score. But the thought process for them and Chelsea, it wasn’t necessarily anything other than, can we keep getting better keep making what we can happen?

“Pelham has a quality program and what Patrick does there is unbelievable with investing into those boys, but I also want take it to any team we got and beat them as best as we can. And so that’s the mentality I think will take us far into the playoff tournament. I want us to keep going and keep going.”

The Lions improved to 17-4 overall and will finish off the regular season with the toughest test imaginable–a short road trip to the undefeated national No. 1 Oak Mountain Eagles on Tuesday, April 22 at 7 p.m.

As for Pelham, it dropped to 16-4-3 overall and 3-3 in area play and will finish its season on the road at the 6A No. 1 Homewood Patriots on Monday, April 21 at 7 p.m. at Waldrop Stadium.

Chelsea announced on its official X account that its first-round road trip to the Helena Huskies will be Friday, April 25 at 7 p.m. at Helena High School. The Hornets will host the Northridge Jaguars on Monday, April 21 at 7 p.m. at Chelsea High School to finish the regular season.