Brownwood (4-4, 2-1) is coming off Wednesday’s 48-14 win at Waxahachie Life, which followed a 47-14 Friday triumph over Alvarado in the home finale. Meanwhile, La Vega (6-2, 3-1) rebounded from a 31-21 loss to Midlothian Heritage with a 51-0 thrashing of Alvarado Wednesday.
In La Vega’s win over Alvarado, the Pirates racked up 480 yards from scrimmage, with 417 coming on the ground. Meanwhile, La Vega’s defense held Alvarado to only 129 total yards and just six first downs.
The Pirates will be a little closer to full strength Monday night as quarterback Ara Rauls, who has missed most of the season with a broken arm, is expected to be back in the starting line up.
“Offensively, they’re going to be more of the La Vega team we’ve seen in the past, being able to throw the ball and move the ball on the ground,” said Lions head coach Sammy Burnett. “They’ve been one dimensional this year with the loss of their quarterback. They’ve been very multiple up front with some formations we haven’t seen before and they’re doing that because of the fact that they weren’t able to throw the football. Their quarterback will be back Monday, but he won’t be doing a bunch of running because I’m sure they’re trying to save him and his arm for the playoffs and making sure he doesn’t get hurt again before then. They’re very much two-dimensional now, back to the throwing the football, and I think they’ll get back into their base formations and do what they do. Their running back may be gimped up a little bit and may not play, he has a hamstring strain and it makes sense they would hold him out for the playoffs.”
The Lions counter with a defense that is allowing 30 points and 356 yards – 233 rushing and 123 passing – per outing, with 13 takeaways.
Standouts include Khyren Deal (98 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 INT), Reece Bolton (66 tackles, 4 for loss), Malachi Revada (51 tackles, 4 for loss, 3 INTs), Kris Hobbs (49 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 sacks, 1 FR), Dryden Anderson (47 tackles, 5 for loss), Taylor Bessent (43 tackles), Blaize Espinoza (28 tackles, 1.5 for loss, 1.5 sacks, 1 FR), Konlyn Anderson (25 tackles, 2 for loss), Zach Bond (23 tackles, .5 for loss, 1 sack), Trevor Evans (22 tackles, 1 sack), Christian Chambers (20 tackles, 1 FR), Hunter Day (19 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 FR), Tyler Tiner (18 tackles, 2 for loss), and Zaiden Lopez (17 tackles, 1 for loss, 1.5 sacks, 1 FR).
“Defensively, we’ve got to find a way to penetrate that offensive line and get into the backfield and cause a little havoc and see if we can make the running back make bad decisions,” Burnett said. “We can’t let them control the line of scrimmage and allow him to make cuts at will. When they decide to throw the ball we have to play great coverage against some good receivers and keep them from having the big play.”
The last two games, Brownwood has given up an average of 14 points and 245 points with four takeaways – limiting Alvarado to just 64 yards rushing and permitting Life to pass for just 59 yards.
“Trying to put a game plan together in a day or two days that can be successful, and yet give your kids the ability to play fast and play with confidence is difficult,” Burnett said. “Our defensive staff has done an outstanding job of finding their point of attack – what do we need to stop, what do we have to stop – and then rallying to what we need to do after that. They’ve done a great job putting a game plan together that’s complex enough to be successful yet vanilla enough to be simple. Our kids have responded to that. For our kids to come out and play the way they have the last two games and play at game speed is just a testament to their character and their desire to get out there and play and enjoy the fact that they’re getting to play.”
Prior to their shutout win over Alvarado, La Vega had yielded 31 points and 24 points in their most recent outings against Midlothian Heritage and Stephenville. Aside from a 35-7 loss to Argyle, the Pirates have not given up more than 13 points in any other game. La Vega also owns a 62-0 shutout win over Waxahachie Life.
“They’re extremely good defensively,” Burnett said. “They dropped a game to Heritage where Heritage, not to take anything away from them, had a couple of fortunate plays that benefited them and resulted in touchdowns. La Vega is extremely fast, you can’t go east and west on them, you have to go north and south and there’s some difficulty with that with the dominance of their defensive line. It’s pretty much exactly what we expected from them this year.
“They’re going to play a 4-3 and they’re going to play man and put pressure on your run game and play your passing game man up. We’re going to have to make some plays and get open in the passing game. If we can get 3 yards a play we feel like that’s a success for us and that’s what we’re going to try and do, anything after that is a luxury and we’ll take it.”
After a two-week span in which the Lions committed 10 turnovers, Brownwood has coughed up the ball just once in the last two outings.
“Our kids are focusing on it a little bit more,” Burnett said regarding the turnover situation. “We still talk to them and preach it every day. Protecting the football in the passing game, making the throws you can make, not forcing throws, throw it away or tuck it and run it and go to the next play, there’s nothing wrong with doing that. Don’t force the ball on the passing game and secure it when we’re running the ball. Coach (Bryan) Clark does an outstanding job working drills with those kids every day about protecting the ball. For us to not have that much time to practice and maintain that focus and not turn the ball over 10 times in two games is the difference in winning two games and losing two games.”
Behind the line of Brad Robinson, Jimi Brown, Ethan Pesina, Logan Gillem and Jared Northcutt, Brownwood heads into the contest averaging 30 points and 314 yards – 160 passing and 154 rushing – per game, with 19 turnovers overall.
Espinoza has completed 42 of 76 passes for 844 yards with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions, while leading receivers include Jason Jackson (27-635, 9 TDs), Dane Johnson (25-279), Elias Huerta (12-116), and Revada (9-129, 2 TDs). The ground game is led by Royshad Henderson (973 yards, 14 TDs) and Konlyn Anderson (157 yards, 2 TDs).
“We have to control the time of possession,” Burnett said of Monday night’s goals. “We have to get those 3 yards and take that as a success, and get 4 yards or more here and there. We also have to have the big play capability, but we have to be real good in our short passing game as well. We have to be able to mix it up and not be one-dimensional.”
On the injury front, the Lions will be missing three key contributors – Henderson, Bond and Deal.
“Royshad is out this game, probably the next two with an ankle, but hopefully we’ll have him back for the playoffs,” Burnett said. “Zach is out with a grade 2 ankle sprain that’s swollen up pretty bad. Khyren is out with a possible ACL tear. If that’s the case it will be based on what he can do. If you tear your ACL and have no other damage a lot times you can play if you can bear the pain, just put a brace on it and tape it. I’ve seen it happen multiple times, kids play a whole season that way, but that would be a decision we would make before the playoffs if that’s the case. It’s up in the air what will happen with him.”
Brownwood Lions Football 2020 Season Stats
Through 8 Games (4-4, 2-1)
TEAM OFFENSE
30.5 points per game (244)
314.1 yards per game (2,513)
154.5 rushing yards per game (1,236)
159.6 passing yards per game (1,277)
PASSING
‒ Blaize Espinoza
42 of 76 for 844 yards, 10 TDs, 4 INTs
‒ Chance Jones
42 of 67 for 433 yards, 2 TDs, 4 INTs
RUSHING
‒ Royshad Henderson
973 yards on 141 carries, 14 TDs
‒ Konlyn Anderson
157 yards on 26 carries, 2 TDs
‒ Blaize Espinoza
73 yards on 28 carries, 2 TDs
‒ Chance Jones
26 yards on 40 carries, 1 TD
‒ Baylor Tidwell
24 yards on 4 carries
‒ Khyren Deal
12 yards on 2 carries
‒ Dane Johnson
0 yards on 3 carries
‒ Team
-29 yards on 4 carries
RECEIVING
‒ Jason Jackson
27 catches for 635 yards, 9 TDs
‒ Dane Johnson
25 catches for 279 yards
‒ Elias Huerta
12 catches for 116 yards
‒ Malachi Revada
9 catches for 129 yards, 2 TDs
‒ Royshad Henderson
7 catches for 66 yards, 1 TD
‒ Khyren Deal
2 catches for 48 yards
‒ Jackson Huff
1 catch for 1 yard
TEAM DEFENSE
30.3 points per game (242)
356.9 yards per game (2,855)
233.5 rushing yards per game (1,868)
123.4 passing yards per game (987)
TACKLES
‒ Khyren Deal
98 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 INT
‒ Reece Bolton
66 tackles, 4 for loss
‒ Malachi Revada
51 tackles, 4 for loss, 3 INTs
‒ Kris Hobbs
49 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 sacks, 1 FR
‒ Dryden Anderson
47 tackles, 5 for loss
‒ Taylor Bessent
43 tackles
‒ Blaize Espinoza
28 tackles, 1.5 for loss, 1.5 sacks, 1 FR
‒ Konlyn Anderson
25 tackles, 2 for loss
‒ Zach Bond
23 tackles, .5 for loss, 1 sack
‒ Trevor Evans
22 tackles, 1 sack
‒ Christian Chambers
20 tackles, 1 FR
‒ Hunter Day
19 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 FR
‒ Tyler Tiner
18 tackles, 2 for loss
‒ Zaiden Lopez
17 tackles, 1 for loss, 1.5 sacks, 1 FR
‒ Royshad Henderson
17 tackles
‒ Jordan Leach
16 tackles
‒ Chance Jones
15 tackles, 1 INT
‒ Spencer Scull
11 tackles
‒ Cade Jetton
10 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 FR
‒ Dane Johnson
9 tackles
‒ Roman McKibbon
8 tackles
‒ Elias Huerta
8 tackles
‒ Baylor Tidwell
6 tackles
‒ Jackson Huff
5 tackles
‒ Case Markham
5 tackles
‒ Brandon Holland
3 tackles
‒ Brannon Burleson
3 tackles
‒ Ethan Pesina
3 tackles
‒ Jason Jackson
1 tackle
‒ Jimi Brown
1 tackle
‒ Logan Gillem
1 tackle
TURNOVER MARGIN: (-6)
Brownwood 19 — 11 fumbles, 8 INTs
Opponents 13 — 6 fumbles, 7 INTs