By Lee Davis
During 26 seasons as head coach at Briarwood, Fred Yancey has seen just about everything, and he’s loving the look of his latest team.
The Lions’ 25-14 win over highly regarded Mortimer Jordan on Sept. 23 ran Briarwood’s record to 4-1 and, more importantly, 4-0 in Class 5A Region Three play. They followed that with a 44-6 rout of St. Clair County last Friday.
The early surge marks an impressive debut for Yancey and his charges in Class 5A, Briarwood’s new alignment following the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s reclassification last year. The Lions had been competitive against much larger schools in Class 6A, but the new grouping has allowed Briarwood to compete against schools with similar size enrollments.
“The biggest difference between Classes 5A and 6A is the matter of platooning,” Yancey said. “In Class 5A, most of the teams have to rely on some of their best playing both offense and defense. In Class 6A, everyone had two platoons. We’ve played with two platoons and I think that’s been an advantage. Our coaching staff is also set up to coach that way, and that’s helped too.”
Beyond that, Yancey sees little difference between the two classes. “Both have really good coaches and players,” he said. “The size of the enrollments is the only difference.”
If the opponents are different, Briarwood itself is a bit different from the recent past as well.
“We’ve got a really good group of guys this year,” Yancey said. “And we have more team speed than we’ve had in a while. That may be the biggest improvement of all.”
The Lions opened the season with a loss to Chelsea of Class 6A and rebounded with an easy win over Region Three rival Moody. A turning point may have come in the season’s third game, when Briarwood overcame a 14-0 halftime deficit to score a dramatic 15-14 win against Wenonah at the Dragons’ home field.
“The biggest thing was that our young men showed that they could compete for four quarters,” Yancey said. “We weren’t happy about being behind by two touchdowns at halftime, but we weren’t discouraged either. We kept fighting and we didn’t wear out at the end of the game.”
A shutout victory over Fairfield followed before Briarwood – perhaps playing its best football on the road – upended highly regarded Mortimer Jordan 23-14.
“Mortimer Jordan was one of the best teams in Class 5A last year and were ranked highly again when we played them,” Yancey said. “Once again we were able to go to a good team’s field and earn a quality region victory.”
A big bright spot for the Lions has been the play of their defense. Briarwood has yielded an average of only 8.5 points per game in their first four region contests. The unit is led by two outstanding linebackers, sophomore Mark Hand and junior Gabe Russell. “Mark can run and has great movement,” Yancey said. “We weren’t necessarily counting on Gabe to have a big year for us, but he’s had a great start.”
Ethan Housel brought more strength to the linebacker corps when he converted to the position after a stint in the secondary. “All three of our linebackers do a good job of tackling,” Yancey said. “They’ve been greatly responsible for our success so far.”
Other standouts for Briarwood on defense have been senior defensive ends Champ Stewart and Jordan Harmon. Senior Bennett Miles and junior Carson Donnelly have been leaders in the secondary. Donnelly had two interceptions in the win over Mortimer Jordan.
The Lions have also shown an impressive offensive punch, averaging 27 points in region play. Junior tackle Garrett Bell – at 6-4, 240 – is a giant in the line along with sophomore Hunter Whatley.
Senior quarterback William Gray has been a double threat with his arm and his ability to run. Through the first five games, Gray had completed 61 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and only three interceptions. He also averages 39 yards a kick as the team’s punter.
“William helps us as a passer, runner and punter,” Yancey said. “He’s very consistent with his kicks. If you can get a punter to average 39 yards in high school, you’re doing very well.”
Briarwood’s top rusher in the early season is sophomore J.R. Tran-Reno, who is rapidly developing every week. Also part of the running tandem is senior Wilson Hand. Both create headaches for opposing defenses.
“Wilson comes in and lights a fire for our offense,” Yancey said. “He really picked us up in the Wenonah game. He provides a nice change of pace for us in the running game.”
The Lions may have some of the best receivers anywhere in Class 5A. Senior Kolby Kwarcinski had two key catches – including a touchdown – in the comeback against Wenonah. Luke Miskelley, also a senior, has excellent size and speed and already had six scoring receptions in four games.
While Briarwood enjoyed respectable success in Class 6A – the Lions qualified for the playoffs every season they were in the classification – Yancey admitted that the change to Class 5A had energized the program.
“We’re competing with schools our size,” he said.” After the early wins in the region, we feel pretty good about where we are going. I told the players that if we keep improving we can make this a year for which we’ll all be proud.”
After 26 years of success at Briarwood, Yancey knows a good season when he sees one.
