For the first time in 21 days, the Brownwood Lions will take the football field Friday night as their District 5-4A Division I schedule resumes after 47 members of the program were quarantined due to COVID-19 concerns.

The Lions (2-4, 0-1) host the Alvarado Indians (2-6, 0-3) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Gordon Wood Stadium in the final home game of the season, and the first of four district games in 15 days as Brownwood looks to extend its string of consecutive playoff appearances to 12 years.

Brownwood held its first football practice in 17 days on Wednesday, and will have taken part in five workouts by kickoff Friday night.

“We got our kids back fifth period Wednesday and got to go out and do some offense,” said Lions third-year head coach Sammy Burnett. “Our practice schedule has totally changed because of the fact that we don’t have the time we normally do. We practiced during the period Wednesday, after school Wednesday and we’ll practice Thursday morning at 6:30 a.m. in the turf room working on defense, during the period we’ll work on offense, then after school we’ll hit the field and then all the sudden it’s time to go.”

With the unexpected time off, the Lions have been able to heal up quite a few injuries.

“Tyler Tiner is in the best shape he’s been in all season with his ankle, Khyren Deal will be back and we were going to lose him for couple of weeks with a concussion,” Burnett said. “And Chance Jones’ ankle is also doing well.”

Brownwood will still be without Cade Jetton, who will miss the rest of the year with a torn ACL, and safety Jordan Leach will miss this week’s game as precautionary measure after suffering a concussion.

The Lions’ last outing was a 59-34 loss to Stephenville, while Alvarado has dropped district contests to Midlothian Heritage (56-23), Waxahachie Life (20-14) and Stephenville (56-21). The Indians began their season with losses to Graham (50-14), Decatur (47-0), and Kilgore (45-0), and won their final two pre-district outings against Kaufman (20-17) and Gainesville (38-28).

Alvarado is manufacturing 16 points and 301 yards – 211 rushing and 90 passing – per outing.

The Indians are led by William Labermeier, who has compiled 1,338 rushing yards and 11 TDs and rushed for at least 100 yards in all but one game. Jackson Pate is the second-leading rusher with 191 yards and one touchdown.

Quarterback West Conner is completing 44 percent of his passes for 683 yards with five touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Leading receivers include Ty Ford (28-351, 2 TDs), William Bledsoe (9-95), and Jacob Wall (8-56, 2 TDs).

“Alvarado is a good football team,” Burnett said. “Their record doesn’t show it but they move the ball and Stephenville couldn’t stop them. They’re a 3 yards and a cloud of dust football team. Their offensive line is good-sized up front and they play as a unit.

“Their tailback’s got good lateral movement and he’s got the ability to stretch a 1-yard gain into a 3-yard gain and that’s extremely important for them. They’re not afraid to go for it on fourth down because if it’s fourth-and-1 because they think they are going to get 3 yards every play.

“Their quarterback is a sophomore but he operates their offensive extremely well. They’re vanilla with their passing game but it catches you off guard because they run the ball so much. He does a great job disguising the football and covering it up and running bootlegs and sprint outs. Their receivers do a great just running their routes, mostly comebacks and things like that.”

Brownwood’s defense is yielding 36 points and 397 yards – 267 rushing and 130 passing – per outing, with nine takeaways on the season.

Leading the charge are Deal (85 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 INT), Reece Bolton (49 tackles, 3 for loss), Malachi Revada (46 tackles, 1 for loss, 2 INTs), Kris Hobbs (35 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 sack, 1 FR), Dryden Anderson (35 tackles, 4 for loss), Blaize Espinoza (27 tackles, 1.5 for loss, 1.5 sacks, 1 FR), Taylor Bessent (25 tackles), Konlyn Anderson (24 tackles, 2 for loss), Hunter Day (18 tackles, 1 INT, 1 FR), Zach Bond (16 tackles, .5 for loss), and Royshad Henderson (16 tackles).

“Alvarado is going to try and control the clock and keep the ball from you so we have get off the field on third-and-long and we have to win some battles on third-and-short and fourth-and-short,” Burnett said. “It’s going to be our job on the defensive line of scrimmage to get into the backfield and cause problems with what they’re trying to do.”

Alvarado’s defense is surrendering 40 points per game on average with 10 sacks as a team and 11 takeaways – seven fumble recoveries and four interceptions.

Standouts include Kaden Ford (77 tackles. 3 INTs), Bucky Boulton (65 tackles, 8 for loss), Brayson Fuller (48 tackles, 8 for loss), Dylan Rodriguez (48 tackles, 5 for loss), and Cesar Reyes (39 tackles, 2 for loss).

“They’re good up front, (Reyes) returns from last year, he’s a big kid and he’s going to take some double teams,” Burnett said. “After that they’re in the same boat we are with new kids. Their back end doesn’t cover extremely well but they play hard and play fast.”

Behind the offensive line of Jimi Brown, Brad Robinson, Ethan Pesina, Logan Gillem and Jared Northcutt, Brownwood’s offense is producing 25 points and 274 yards – 140 passing and 134 rushing – per game with 18 turnovers, including 10 in the last two outings.

Quarterbacks Jones (42 of 67 for 433 yards, 2 TDs, 4 INTs) and Espinoza (18 of 35 for 402 yards, 5 TDs, 3 INTs) have shared time behind center, while Henderson (775 yards, 10 TDs) spearheads the ground game. Primary receiving threats include Dane Johnson
(20-211), Jason Jackson (19-395, 6 TDs), Elias Huerta (8–73), Henderson (6-62, TD), Revada (4-43), and Deal (2-48).

“Offensively we have to take advantage of every opportunity we get because we’re not going to get near as many as you normally would because they’re such a clock-control team,” Burnett said. “We have to make sure we’re crisp in what we’re trying to do and simple in what we’re trying to do. The good thing is our game plan is pretty similar to what we did against Stephenville and what we were going to do against Heritage.”

Remaining tickets for Friday’s home finale – which will also serves as Pink-Out Night with the Senior Walk will follow – can be purchased for $6 at the Brownwood High Athletic Office from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday.

“We’re going to need everybody we can get in the stands,” Burnett said. “We’re going to need some excitement. Our kids need your support and they’re going to have to feel it. It was 17 days since they did anything and it’s hard to get back on the field and play at game speed when you haven’t been able to do that.”

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Brownwood is a 20-point favorite.

Brownwood Lions Football 2020 Season Stats
Through 6 Games (2-4, 0-1)

TEAM OFFENSE
24.8 points per game (149)
273.5 yards per game (1,641)
134.3 rushing yards per game (806)
139.2 passing yards per game (835)

PASSING
‒ Chance Jones
42 of 67 for 433 yards, 2 TDs, 4 INTs

‒ Blaize Espinoza
18 of 35 for 402 yards, 5 TDs, 3 INTs

RUSHING
‒ Royshad Henderson
775 yards on 120 carries, 10 TDs
‒ Chance Jones
26 yards on 40 carries, 1 TD

‒ Blaize Espinoza
14 yards on 13 carries

‒ Konlyn Anderson
1 yard on 1 carry

‒ Team
–3 yards on 1 carry

‒ Dane Johnson
–7 yards on 2 carries

RECEIVING
‒ Dane Johnson
20 catches for 211 yards
‒ Jason Jackson
19 catches for 395 yards, 6 TDs

‒ Elias Huerta
8 catches for 73 yards

‒ Royshad Henderson
6 catches for 62 yards, 1 TD

‒ Malachi Revada
4 catches for 43 yards
‒ Khyren Deal
2 catches for 48 yards

TEAM DEFENSE
35.7 points per game (214)
396.8 yards per game (2,381)
267.0 rushing yards per game (1,602)
129.8 passing yards per game (779)

TACKLES
‒ Khyren Deal
85 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 INT

‒ Reece Bolton
49 tackles, 3 for loss
‒ Malachi Revada
46 tackles, 1 for loss, 2 INTs

‒ Kris Hobbs
35 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 sack, 1 FR

‒ Dryden Anderson
35 tackles, 4 for loss

‒ Blaize Espinoza
27 tackles, 1.5 for loss, 1.5 sacks, 1 FR

‒ Taylor Bessent
25 tackles

‒ Konlyn Anderson
24 tackles, 2 for loss

‒ Hunter Day
18 tackles, 1 INT, 1 FR

‒ Zach Bond
16 tackles, .5 for loss

‒ Royshad Henderson
16 tackles

‒ Jordan Leach
16 tackles

‒ Zaiden Lopez
15 tackles, 1 for loss, 1.5 sacks

‒ Tyler Tiner
15 tackles, 2 for loss

‒ Christian Chambers
14 tackles, 1 FR

‒ Trevor Evans
13 tackles, 1 sack

‒ Cade Jetton
10 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 FR

‒ Spencer Scull
9 tackles

‒ Elias Huerta
8 tackles

‒ Chance Jones
7 tackles

‒ Dane Johnson
6 tackles

‒ Baylor Tidwell
4 tackles

‒ Ethan Pesina
3 tackles
‒ Case Markham
2 tackles

‒ Roman McKibbon
2 tackles

‒ Jimi Brown
1 tackle

‒ Logan Gillem
1 tackle

‒ Jackson Huff
1 tackle

TURNOVER MARGIN: (–9)
Brownwood 18 — 11 fumbles, 7 INTs
Opponents 9 — 5 fumbles, 4 INTs