BRIARWOOD
TEAM INFORMATION
LIONS Year one of the Matthew Forester era was a roaring success for Briarwood after finishing with a 12-2 record and a trip to the semifinals of the playoffs where in the end they missed out on advancing to the state championship game by two points in a 16-14 loss to Pleasant Grove. Year two, however, is going to present a new set of challenges for the Lions, who will now move up one classification to Class 6A and into one of its most difficult regions. The good news for this year’s team is the return of a strong defense and several starters on the offensive side of the ball. While their last move up to 6A didn’t go extremely well, this year’s team seems built to compete at a high level, as long as the Lions can build the depth. With a star player at every position on both sides of the ball aside from offensive line, and sometimes more than one, the Lions are poised to make some noise. Forester proved he’s capable of leading his team to greatness in year one, and it’s hard to imagine the Lions losing confidence going into year two.
MEET THE TEAM QUARTERBACK One of the biggest bright spots for Briarwood will be the return of sophomore quarterback Christopher Vizzina, who started as a freshman and won 11 games, including three postseason victories. Already standing at 6-foot-3, 185 pounds with three years left, his future is bright and he has a chance to take command of the offense this year. Last year, the Lions were more built to run the ball, and while they’ll do that again, Vizzina has learned the offense and will be trusted with much more as they expand what they do this season. He won’t have a lot of height at receiver to throw to downfield, but his accuracy will be help this offense succeed.
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2020 SHELBY COUNTY FOOTBALL
Christopher Vizzina
CLASSIFICATION AHSAA Class 6A, Region 5 2019 RECORD 12-2 (6-1) HEAD COACH Matthew Forester RECORD 12-2 (Second year) ASSISTANT COACHES Mike Bautista, Ernest Carroll, Chris Donnelly, Matthew Furuto, Shane Harmon, Bobby Kerley, Jay Mathews, Johnny Howard, Brent Reese, Steve Renfroe, Jared Walker, Jay Wise LAST REGION TITLE 2019 LAST PLAYOFF GAME 2019
