The fourth season of Brownwood Lions football under the direction of head coach Sammy Burnett kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Gordon Wood Stadium as the Lampasas Badgers – ranked No. 10 in Class 4A Division I by Harris Ratings Weekly – come calling.

Starting the year in a underdog role is something the Lions have become accustomed to in recent seasons due to their difficult pre-district slate, but Burnett welcomes the challenge.

“Lampasas is ranked in the Top 10, we’re 14-point dogs to them and we’re fine with all that stuff,” Burnett said. “You can never measure the size of a man’s heart and that’s what we lean on. We know we’re going to go earn our respect this year. This is our opportunity to prove to people we can play with anybody. Our kids are working extremely hard, we couldn’t ask them to do anymore than they’re doing. Their attitudes are great, their efforts are great and they’re getting prepared to take the test on Friday. We’re on pace right now to be prepared to kick it off and play to our potential.”

The Lions, coming off a 4-6 campaign in 2020, return just 16 of 56 lettermen including four offensive and six defensive starters. Brownwood averaged 26 points and 292 yards – 152 passing and 140 rushing – a year ago, while giving up 35 points and 375 yards – 246 on the ground and 120 through the air. The Lions also coughed up the ball 26 times while creating 15 turnovers.

The projected starting lineup heading into the Lampasas contest consists of right tackle Damian Sanchez, right guard Alex Reyna, center Ethan Pesina, left guard Brandon Still, and left tackle Slayde Espinoza on offense, along with running back Konlyn Anderson (287 rushing yards, 3 TDs in 2020), quarterback Chance Jones (433 passing yards, 2 TDs), outside receivers Thad Hinds and Jason Jackson (32-668, 9 TDs receiving), and slot receivers Brayden Daub and Elias Huerta-Doud (14-157 receiving).

“Without a doubt our offensive line has gelled quicker,” Burnett said. “After two scrimmages and watching film we still have some mechanics and footwork to fix it, but they’re understanding our schemes and communicating properly and identifying fronts, not busting assignments. The offensive line is the heartbeat of your team and they’re allowing us to be able to move the football on the ground with a running back that’s pretty powerful.”

Defensively, the Lions are expected to send out a unit comprised of ends Zaiden Lopez (23 tackles, 1 for loss, 1.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery) and Christian Chambers (29 tackles, 1 fumble recovery), nose guard Quinten McCarty, inside linebackers Brandon Holland (13 tackles, 1 fumble recovery) and Jaylan Brown, outside linebackers Dryden Anderson (60 tackles, 5 for loss) and Taylor Bessent (56 tackles), cornerbacks Case Markham (10 tackles, 1 for loss) and Noah Barron, and safeties Quentin Thompson and Jordan Leach (16 tackles).

“We have some key players, but it’s a learning process and I don’t know that we have a strength yet,” Burnett said of the defense. “We’re average in the back end, there’s opportunities to make plays we’re not making. We’re average at linebacker right now, not seeing and reading our keys as well as we should and fitting properly. We’re not technicians right now on the D-line, so we don’t really have anything to lean on right now. We have to find that.”

Lampasas is coming off a 9-1 playoff campaign, but returns just seven of 30 lettermen, including four starters on each side of the ball. The Badgers are picked to finish second in District 13-4A Division I behind Austin LBJ.

Among the returnees are running back/linebacker Cade Brister (300 rushing yards, 6 TDs; 178 tackles), receiver/defensive back Ethan Moreno (479 receiving yards, 5 TDs), linebacker Dax Brookreson (111 tackles, 3 INTs), linebacker Josh Carter (68 tackles, 5 sacks), and offensive/defensive lineman Sokomi (45 tackles, 4 sacks).

“They’re big on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively, their lines are really good sized, and they’re going to be able to lay on you early,” Burnett said. “They have two quarterbacks, I’ve seen them in scrimmages but they don’t have numbers so you don’t really know who they are. They’re two different types of throwers, one likes to the throw the deep ball, a taller, skinnier kid. The other is more athletic, runs the ball a little more, likes the quick game. They haven’t shown much run in their scrimmages but they don’t have to, they know they can the football behind that big offensive line. It’s be interesting to see which quarterback starts the game for them.

“They have an all-state linebackers returning, inside and outside, two defensive linemen and two secondary guys, so they have enough balance that they have some experience, but they also have some younger guys that are going to have to step up and play and be vital parts of what they’re trying to do. They can’t lean on the big boys all the time because we’re going to try and go as fast as we can and wear them out.”

The Lions have focused on conditioning during the offseason and preseason due to a new uptempo offense, which Burnett hopes pays dividends as the game lingers into the second half.

“When you start a football game everybody’s fresh and is about equal,” Burnett said. “Then it’s through the attrition of the game where you start getting fatigued and your body starts wearing down and breaking down and it comes down to who has mentally capacity to push through that and be successful. That’s what we preached to our kids and what we’re going to try and do, just mash on them and hopefully by the third or fourth quarter take away their will to win.”

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Brownwood is a 14-point underdog.