LAMPASAS – The Brownwood Lions opened the Lampasas portion of the Burnet 7-on-7 Division II state qualifier Saturday with a shutout victory, but as the weather conditions deteriorated so did the Lions’ hopes of advancing out of pool play.
After a 26-0 win over Lake Belton, the Lions dropped a 20-19 decision to Lampasas followed by a 27-6 defeat at the hands of District 5-4A Division I rival Midlothian Heritage. As Saturday’s schedule progressed, a steady rain gradually developed into a torrential downpour as Brownwood finished with a 1-2 record for the second consecutive weekend.
“It was terrible conditions, but it’s conditions that everybody out here has to plan in,” said Lions assistant head coach David Jones, who was on hand to observe Saturday’s action. “We need to deal with that better obviously. The conditions were not good at all but that’s football, you got to deal with what Mother Nature brings. Still, we’re getting better every single week and that’s the objective in 7-on-7, to get our kids good work. We’re going to keep playing and get better and learn from our mistakes, so I’m glad we had this opportunity.”
Quarterback Chance Jones completed 40 of 89 passes over the three games with seven touchdowns and three interceptions, as drops by receivers and off-target hurls were the theme of the day for all teams involved.
Jason Jackson led all Brownwood receivers with 14 catches and three touchdowns trailed by Case Markham with 13 grabs, Elias Huerta with six and two touchdowns, Thad Hinds and Jaylon Brown with two catches and one touchdown apiece, Konlyn Anderson with a pair of receptions, and Brayden Daub made one catch.
Defensively, the Lions picked off four passes including one returned for a touchdown by Jordan Leach. Jackson, Huerta and Quentin Thompson also nabbed interceptions.
In the opener against Lake Belton, the Lions led 7-0 at halftime on a scoring toss from Jones to Jackson, and an extra point reception by Huerta. Brownwood extended the lead in the second half by scoring on its first two drives, touchdown receptions by Brown and Huerta. The Lions then capped the scoring with Leach’s pick six.
“I told our guys that we played really well in the first game both offensively and defensively,” Jones said.
In the one-point loss to Lampasas, the Lions grabbed a 7-6 lead on a touchdown catch and extra point reception by Hinds. Trailing 13-7 at halftime, Brownwood drew even at 13 on a scoring toss from Jones to Huerta. The Lions later grabbed a 19-13 advantage when Jackson hauled in a touchdown from Jones, but Lampasas scored in the closing minute and added the extra-point reception to notch the victory.
“The second game I thought our effort was really good but we’re in the winning business and we have to find a way to win a ball game,” Jones said. “Last week we had two close ones that we lost and today another one we lose by one point and we had some opportunities to win that ball game, including a drop and two busted coverages. We have to find ways to win those.”
In the finale, the Lions spotted Heritage the first 21 points and didn’t score until their next-to-last drive when Jones found Jackson in the end zone.
“This last game, that was disappointing to me,” Jones said. “I thought our effort was not good at all and we addressed that with our kids. That’s one thing we should never have to talk about is effort. We come out here and we have good support from our fans, we spend time and money on this and we expect effort at all times. Any time you wear Brownwood on your chest you better have effort, especially against a district opponent, and I thought they outworked us. We have to get that fixed.”
The Lions will take their third crack at making their 21st straight appearance in the 7-on-7 state tournament next Saturday as they take part in the Midlothian Heritage qualifier.