Briar Woods' Season Ends at Millbrook

By Matt Tobin

Saturday, November 17, 2007

With a kneel, Millbrook quarterback Andrew Oates capped the season for visiting Briar Woods Friday night and enacted revenge.

The AA Region II Division 3 semifinal was the first playoff appearance for Briar Woods and its second matchup of the season with Millbrook. Only this time, Millbrook left the field a winner.

The game ended with a series of kneels after Briar Woods had come back from a 14-point deficit to lead by three with eight minutes left. But the Falcons couldn't stop an ensuing drive by the Pioneers, losing 27-24.

The beginning of the game for Briar Woods, like the end, didn't go according to plan.

After turning the ball over on downs in their first drive, the Falcons saw the Pioneers run 60 yards to the end zone.

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Briar Woods at Millbrook

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Briar Woods wide receiver Jeremy Gray gets pumped up before the game with fellow teammates. (Kevin Myrick)

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Briar Woods captains Alex Munro, John Maghamez, Austin DeMoss and Andrew Davidson meet the captains of the Millbrook team in the middle of the field for the coin toss. (Kevin Myrick)

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No. 7 Ben Poplar celebrates after the Briar Woods offense gained a first down in the first quarter against Millbrook Friday. (Kevin Myrick)

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No. 2 Devin Barber gets tackled during the first quarter trying to gain enough yards for a first down. (Kevin Myrick)

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No. 1 Tim King is tackled by Millbrook's No. 24 TJ Williams after catching a pass from quarterback Alex Munro (Kevin Myrick)

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Millbrook defensive back No. 81 Neil Bishop returns an interception by quarterback Alex Munro. (Kevin Myrick)

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Briar Woods fans traveled to Winchester to watch the Falcons take on the Millbrook Pioneers in the first round of the playoffs. The Falcons fell to the Pioneers, 27-24. (Kevin Myrick)

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The Falcon defense signals for a turnover on a fumble by Millbrook's TJ Williams during the second quarter. (Kevin Myrick)

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Pioneer running back Butch Kaczmarzewski tries to gain a first down for Millbrook during the second quarter as the Falcon defense swarms on him. (Kevin Myrick)

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Matt Eisenman is tackled by Millbrook's Butch Kaczmarzewski during a second quarter drive in Friday's playoff game in Winchester. (Kevin Myrick)

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Briar Woods cheerleaders pump up the crowd as the second quarter winds down and the Falcons go into the locker room down by seven with a score of 21-14. (Kevin Myrick)

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Devin Barber runs for a first down during the third quarter against the Millbrook Pioneers in Winchester. (Kevin Myrick)

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Jeremy Gray celebrates after a second-half touchdown that put Briar Woods up for the first time in the game, 24-21. The Falcons ended up losing, 27-24. (Kevin Myrick)

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The Falcon defense swarms on No. 24 TJ Williams Friday during the fourth quarter as Millbrook tries for a first down. (Kevin Myrick)

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No. 8 Clayton Rodney celebrates after intercepting a fourth down pass from Alex Munro late in the fourth quarter to secure the 27-24 Millbrook win Friday in the first round of playoffs. (Kevin Myrick)

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Eleven seconds later, they saw Millbrook do it again.

A Millbrook squib kick by kicker Drew Riggleman careened off a Briar Woods helmet and into the hands of a Pioneer. Now at the Briar Woods 45, Millbrook had another chance to score -- and Oates made the most of the opportunity. He threw the ball to an open Levon Williams, who took it all 45 yards to the end zone.

The score was 14-0 with four minutes to play in the game. Falcons Head Coach Charlie Pierce attributed the result of the squib kick to the unpredictability that comes with playoff play.

"When you get into playoff games, the ball bounces strange sometimes," Pierce said.

Briar Woods cut into Millbrook's lead for the first time in the middle of the second quarter. Quarterback Alex Munro connected with wide receiver Tim King on a long pass to the end zone that made the score 14-7.

Pierce hoped the pair, who connected for 751 yards and 12 touchdowns in the regular season, would have the same success in their first playoff game.

"You always try to get to your best receiver or your best player as much as you can," Pierce said. "Some things worked out tonight, some things didn't."

For the game, King finished with 50 yards on 3 receptions and a touchdown.

In the second half, the Falcons went on a 10-point run via a Vince Atanasov field goal and a 20-yard touchdown pass from Munro to wide receiver Jeremy Gray, putting Briar Woods up, 24-21.

The lead -- and the season – ended for Briar Woods, though, when Oates found Neil Quince open in the end zone with 4:37 left to play.

The Falcons' next and final drive ended with an interception, Munro's second of the game.

Extra Points

By Paul Tenorio and Matt Brooks