Two years ago, the Brownwood Lions were eliminated from postseason action in the opening round by the Kennedale Wildcats. Friday night, the Lions look to return the favor and end Kennedale’s season on the Wildcats’ home turf in a Region II-4A Division I bi-district playoff encounter.

Kickoff between the District 5 fourth-seed Lions (4-5) and District 6 champion Kennedale (9-0-1) is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Wildcat Stadium

The Wildcats – who produce 36 points and allow 8 per game on average – have survived close calls against Sunnyvale (28-27), Benbrook (16-13 in OT), and Wimberley (17-14). Kennedale and Longview Pine Tree played to a 10-10 tie when the power went out at Wildcat Stadium at halftime. The rest of the Wildcats’ wins have come in convincing fashion against Fort Worth Carter-Riverside (69-0), Fort Worth Eastern Hills (50-0), Fort Worth Dunbar (57-0), Fort Worth Diamond Hill-Jarvis (forfeit), Fort Worth Western Hills (56-7) and Fort Worth Castleberry (52-7).

“We’ve definitely had the stronger schedule,” said Lions third-year head coach Sammy Burnett said. “Most of the games they’ve played against teams that I would consider comparable to the opponents we’ve faced this year have been really close ball games. I know their record has something to do with the fact that they’re are 21-point favorites but that’s just fuel for us.”

Defense has been the strong suit for the Wildcats, who have yielded 68 points all season.

“They do an outstanding job of blitzing on defense and trying to confuse you and put too many people in the backfield before you can get the ball off or get the hand off,” Burnett said. “They run a 6-1 front so they’re gap sound. They bring at least five on every play for sure and six most of the time. And they’re fast and they can run to the football.”

Among players to watch for Kennedale, according to Burnett, are safeties J.D. Coffey and Brandon Waters, outside linebacker Travis Neyhart, middle linebacker R.J. Peppers and defensive tackle Ivan Francis.

“They’re led by safety J.D. Coffey, and they play man free 99 percent of the time which frees him up to play run and pass and he does an outstanding job,” Burnett said. “If you get to the second level he’s going to be there and when he arrives he arrives pretty violently.

“Travis Neyhart is one of their big stunt guys, but we think we have it pegged to when he’s going to stunt and how to identify that. Brandon Waters, their other safety, he rolls down in box and plays the run when they’re in man coverage. R.J. Peppers is a physical kid and does a great job of playing the run and he’s responsible for the back out and does a good job keeping his eyes on the back.”

Brownwood’s offense heads into the contest averaging 28 points and 295 yards – 152 rushing and 143 passing – with 21 turnovers on the season.

Quarterback Blaize Espinoza has completed 44 of 91 passes for 856 yards with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions. The ground game is led by Royshad Henderson (973 rushing yards, 14 TDs) and Konlyn Anderson (287 rushing yards, 3 TDs). Top receiving threats include Jason Jackson (27-635, 9 TDs), Dane Johnson (25-279), Elias Huerta (13-115) and Malachi Revada (10-142, 2 TDs). Paving the way up front are Brad Robinson, Jimi Brown, Ethan Pesina, Logan Gillem and Jared Northcutt.

On the flip side of the ball, Kennedale’s ground and pound offensive style is spearheaded by quarterback Jeremiah Myers, along with running backs Cameron Lyles, Marlete Joyner and Kenaj Washington.

“Their quarterback is a sophomore and a good runner,” Burnett said. “They run the mid-line and he does a great job operating their system. They don’t throw the ball a ton but when they do he’s pretty accurate. Their running backs are Marlete Joyner and Cameron Lyles, who are both athletic and both run the ball really well. Their motion jitterbug is Kenaj Washington. He’s not very big, a pretty small kid, but he can really go.

“They’re more of a Midland Greenwood/Alvarado style of offense, and the teams we’ve had the most success against this year have run this style of offense. We allowed 15 points to Midland Greenwood and 14 to Alvarado, so we feel like we match up well with them defensively to their offense. Most defensive coordinators are so young now they don’t know how to defend that offense because they never see it. Fortunately we have some old crafty veteran coaches that do a good job of lining up to those styles of defense. Coach (David) Jones does a great job getting us set and making it simple for our kids, and Coach (Brett) Mouser as well as on the back end.”

The Lions defense is yielding 34 points and 382 yards – 239 rushing and 133 passing – per outing with 15 takeaways.

Leading tacklers include Khyren Deal (98 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 INT), Reece Bolton (72 tackles, 4 for loss), Kris Hobbs (56 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 sacks, 1 FR), Revada (53 tackles, 4 for loss, 3 INTs), Dryden Anderson (52 tackles, 5 for loss), Taylor Bessent (49 tackles), Trevor Evans (30 tackles, 1 sack), 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), Zaiden Lopez (21 tackles, 1 for loss, 1.5 sacks, 1 FR), Hunter Day (21 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 FR), Christian Chambers (20 tackles, 1 FR) and Tyler Tiner (20 tackles, 2 for loss).

“I think it’s going to be a defensive struggle and come down to who makes the big plays on offense,” Burnett said. “I do think we have better big play capability than they do, we just have to protect and get the ball off. It all starts with the run game, we have to be able control the line of scrimmage, we have to be able to go get 3 or 4 yards a pop and stay ahead of the chains.”

On the health front, the Lions could be without up to seven players Friday night – Gillem, Deal, Tiner, Brandon Holland, Chance Jones, Slayde Espinoza and Henderson, who Burnett stated was at about 70 percent earlier this week.

Friday’s winner will face either District 7 runner-up Melissa (9-1) or District 8 third seed Dallas Carter (3-3) in the second round of the playoffs.

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Brownwood is a 21-point underdog.

Brownwood Lions Football 2020 Season Stats
Through 9 Games (4-5, 2-2)

TEAM OFFENSE
27.8 points per game (250)
295.2 yards per game (2,657)
152.0 rushing yards per game (1,368)
143.2 passing yards per game (1,289)

PASSING

‒ Blaize Espinoza
44 of 91 for 856 yards, 10 TDs, 6 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
287 yards on 51 carries, 3 TDs

‒ Blaize Espinoza
97 yards on 35 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
-51 yards on 5 carries

RECEIVING
‒ Jason Jackson
27 catches for 635 yards, 9 TDs

‒ Dane Johnson
25 catches for 279 yards
‒ Elias Huerta
13 catches for 115 yards

‒ Malachi Revada
10 catches for 142 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
33.8 points per game (304)
382.1 yards per game (3,439)
239.4 rushing yards per game (2,155)
132.7 passing yards per game (1,194)

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

‒ Reece Bolton
72 tackles, 4 for loss

‒ Kris Hobbs
56 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 sacks, 1 FR
‒ Malachi Revada
53 tackles, 4 for loss, 3 INTs

‒ Dryden Anderson
52 tackles, 5 for loss

‒ Taylor Bessent
49 tackles

‒ Trevor Evans
30 tackles, 1 sack

‒ 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

‒ Zaiden Lopez
21 tackles, 1 for loss, 1.5 sacks, 1 FR

‒ Hunter Day
21 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 FR

‒ Christian Chambers
20 tackles, 1 FR

‒ Tyler Tiner
20 tackles, 2 for loss

‒ Royshad Henderson
17 tackles

‒ Jordan Leach
16 tackles

‒ Chance Jones
16 tackles, 1 INT

‒ Brandon Holland
13 tackles, 1 FR

‒ Spencer Scull
11 tackles

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

‒ Elias Huerta
9 tackles

‒ Dane Johnson
9 tackles

‒ Jackson Huff
8 tackles
‒ Case Markham
8 tackles, 1 FR

‒ Roman McKibbon
8 tackles

‒ Baylor Tidwell
6 tackles

‒ Brannon Burleson
3 tackles

‒ Ethan Pesina
3 tackles

‒ Jason Jackson
2 tackles

‒ Jimi Brown
1 tackle

‒ Logan Gillem
1 tackle

TURNOVER MARGIN: (-6)
Brownwood 21 — 11 fumbles, 10 INTs
Opponents 15 — 8 fumbles, 7 INTs