Briar Woods Grinds Out a 27-13 Victory

Third Time's a Charm Against Millbrook

By Matt Brooks (Contact)

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Briar Woods's 2007 season ended when Millbrook quarterback Andrew Oates threw an eight-yard touchdown pass that sealed a three-point victory for the Pioneers and sent the Falcons out of the regional playoffs.

Oates picked up where he left off in a season-opening rematch on a soggy field in Brambleton on Friday night – only his first pass went the other way for a touchdown. Briar Woods senior linebacker Jake Ashton stepped in front of an Oates slant and coasted 39 yards into the end zone to give the home team a lead less than one minute into the contest.

A second pick-six by senior linebacker J.T. Bailey early in the third quarter gave the Falcons a lead they would never relinquish and the offense put the game away with its bruising power running game down the stretch as Briar Woods avenged last season’s loss with a 27-13 victory.

"We definitely used that as motivation coming into this game," Briar Woods junior fullback Billy McDonald said of the season-ending loss. "They knocked us out of the playoffs last year and we remembered all of our seniors going off the field sad and depressed. We used that as fire, it lit our way and we came out with a victory."

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Briar Woods Knocks Off Millbrook

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It was wet field conditions for Briar Woods's home opener on Friday. (Matt Brooks)

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Millbrook senior quarterback Andrew Oates rolls out of the pocket, looking for a receiver on a third down play early in the fourth quarter. Briar Woods's defense kept the Pioneers out of the end zone and forced a turnover on downs one play later. (Matt Brooks)

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Briar Woods junior fullback Billy McDonald caps a 16-play, 95-yard drive with his second touchdown of the night, sealing the victory for the Falcons. (Matt Brooks)

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The Briar Woods Falcons celebrate their 27-13 victory over Millbrook by singing the alma mater. (Matt Brooks)

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In two meetings with Millbrook last season, McDonald totaled four rushing touchdowns, so the Pioneers expected another heavy dose of the 5-foot-11, 250-pound bruiser. But even then, they couldn’t find a way to stop him.

With just over 10 minutes left in the game and Millbrook trailing 21-13, the Pioneers had first and goal on the two-yard line but failed to punch it across and turned the ball over on downs. On the ensuing drive, the Falcons marched 95 yards on 16 plays over seven minutes – all runs – to set up McDonald's one-yard plunge to put the game out of reach. The score was McDonald's second of the night.

"We've got a lot of skilled kids in the backfield," Briar Woods Coach Charlie Pierce said. "On a sloppy field, it got sloppier as it went on, it just became obvious that we had to go straight ahead – no more two and three different handoff zone reads – just go straight ahead."

The Falcons, who planned to open things up offensively this year, found most of their success on the ground, rushing for 194 of their 136 total yards on 43 carries. Senior transfer running back Essray Taliaferro led all rushers with 62 yards before leaving with a hip pointer. McDonald finished with 12 carries for 57 yards – including 50 on that final drive.

After the early interception return put them in a 7-0 hole, the Pioneers responded with a long drive capped with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Oates to senior wide receiver Neil Bishop to knot the score at 7 by the end of the first quarter. Following McDonald's first touchdown late in the second quarter, Millbrook again responded when Oates found junior Bryon Tavers streaking down the left sideline for a 31-yard touchdown to bring the Pioneers within 15-13 at the half.

After Oates was intercepted for the second time on Millbrook's first possession of the second half, the Pioneers drove down to the Briar Woods one-yard line but failed to get across for a score.

"Both times we threw the pick six we were able to come back and score and again and return the momentum and sort of counter their punch," Millbrook Coach Reed Prosser said. "Really it was just a boxing bout where it was just punch, punch, punch, punch and in the end we just weren't able to punch it in to tie the game up."

Pierce also likened the back-and-forth battle to a boxing match, citing his team’s conditioning as the determining factor down the stretch.

"The conditioning and the kids believing in what we're doing conditioning-wise, that paid off," Pierce said. "We use boxing analogies all the time. What we say is, 'You're going to get on the ropes throughout the game, but it's how you finish. We talk about finishing all the time and that's how we did it."

While the Falcons offense struggled early – compiling just four first-half first downs, the defense kept them in it forcing three turnovers and stuffing Millbrook’s rushing attack. The Pioneers managed only 40 yards on 23 carries, doing most of their damage through the air as Oates finished with 215 yards passing on 14-of-28 with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Millbrook also lost a fumble in the second quarter, setting up McDonald's first touchdown run.

"The defense won the game for us," McDonald said. "If we hadn't gotten those two picks, the game would still be tied right now. So those two interceptions definitely put us over."

But it was McDonald's effort on the final drive that secured a 1-0 start for the Falcons. After Briar Woods earned a first and goal from Millbrook’s one-yard line, Pierce yelled to his fullback from the sideline, "Hey, Billy! You all right?" McDonald nodded. "Then put it in for us!"

Five seconds later the Falcons were congratulating McDonald in the end zone and two minutes later Briar Woods had clinched the redemption they'd been waiting nine months to experience.

Tagged: Briar Woods High School, football, high school sports

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