The Brownwood Lions’ two road trips thus far this season haven’t produced fruitful results, but fourth-year head coach Sammy Burnett and his squad are hopeful to return to the win column at 7:30 p.m. Friday as the Burnet Bulldogs visit Gordon Wood Stadium for homecoming.

Since a 58-55 season-opening home win over Lampasas, Brownwood (1-2) has since suffered losses at Midland Greenwood (21-20) and Class A Division II No. 4 China Spring (57-21). Meanwhile, Burnet (0-2) – which cancelled last week’s game due to a COVID outbreak – has fallen to 5A Division II programs Marble Falls (41-9) and Leander Rouse (44-7).

“They didn’t play last week, but they have a lot of kids back that were missing against Marble Falls,” Burnett said. “The coach said they are back to full force now.”

The Lions are “limping a little bit,” according to Burnett, as up to five players could miss Friday’s action – Case Markham with a concussion, Damian Sanchez with a high ankle sprain, Brayden Daub with an AC separation, and Roan Aguinaga and Zaiden Lopez due to illness.

In Burnet’s opening loss to Rouse, the Bulldogs gave up 361 yards and five touchdowns through the air. Grant Jones scored on a 5-yard carry to prevent a Burnet shutout, while Landon Christian caught seven passes for 106 yards.

Against Marble Falls, the Bulldogs finished with 239 yards and gave up 426. Burnet surrendered the game’s first 27 points before scoring on a 46-yard run by Ethan Wolfe, who finished with 84 yards on nine carries. Angel Suazo booted a 32-yard field goal to account for Burnet’s other points. The Bulldogs also yielded 100-plus yards to a pair of rushers.

“There’s kind of an unknown with kids out due to COVID and concussions but they’re back at full force,” Burnett said. “Bryan Wood is the new head coach, he used to coach at Brownwood, and the kids are learning a new system, but the longer they go the more they understand that system and will operate it better.

“They’ve got good size, their quarterback is a lefty and does a good job throwing the ball, and they do some good play action stuff. Their running back is solid, but we’re going to go out there and try and impose our will on defense and work on getting more physical.

“Defensively they’re more of a 3-3 stack defense. They bring pressure from somewhere every play, they don’t sit still. We’ve seen that style of defense against Lampasas and had success, so we’re going to come out and be sound and be simple with what we do.”

The Lions enter the contest averaging 33 points and 417 yards – 272 rushing and 145 passing – per game, with five turnovers.

Konlyn Anderson has sparked the ground game with 557 yards and four touchdowns while quarterback Chance Jones has chipped in 139 yards and three scores and Jaylan Brown has amassed 118 yards.

Through the air, Jones is 32 of 72 for 436 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. Leading receivers include Jason Jackson (12-214, 3 TDs), Elias Huerta-Doud (10-33, TD), and Brayden Hinds (4-43, TD).

Defensively, the Lions are allowing 44 points and 474 yards – 284 rushing and 190 passing – per game, with five takeaways.

Top tackers include Dryden Anderson (29 tackles, 2.5 for loss, 0.5 sacks, 1 FR), Brown (23 tackles, 2.5 for loss), Noah Barron (22 tackles), Quentin Thompson (20 tackles), Owen Huntsinger (18 tackles, 1 INT), Markham (18 tackles), Jordan Leach (16 tackles, 0.5, 1 FR), Brandon Holland (13 tackles, 0.5 sacks), Cole Miller (12 tackles, 0.5 for loss, 1 INT), Quinten McCarty (10 tackles, 2.5 for loss), Huerta-Doud (8 tackles, 1 FR), Azariah Dillard (8 tackles, 0.5 for loss), and Lopez (8 tackles).

The Lions have also committed 28 penalties for 250 yards thus far this season, an average of 9 flags for 83 yards per game.

“We’ve had a dose of the drops and we have to quit doing that, start playing ahead of the chains and not get penalized,” Burnett said. “We’ve also worked on kickoffs and kick returns and cutting down mistakes in those areas. It hasn’t been a good start for us. We’ve been stepping on our own feet.”

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Brownwood is a 13-point favorite.

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Brownwood Lions Football 2021 Season Stats
Through 3 Games (1-2)

TEAM OFFENSE
33.0 points per game (99)
417.3 yards per game (1,252)
272.0 rushing yards per game (816)
145.3 passing yards per game (436)

PASSING

‒ Chance Jones
32 of 72 for 436 yards, 5 TDs

RUSHING
‒ Konlyn Anderson
557 yards on 89 carries, 4 TDs

‒ Chance Jones
139 yards on 29 carries, 3 TDs

‒ Jaylan Brown
118 yards on 15 carries

‒ Grant Hennington
2 yards on 1 carry

RECEIVING
‒ Jason Jackson
12 catches for 214 yards, 3 TDs

‒ Elias Huerta-Doud
10 catches for 133 yards, TD

‒ Thad Hinds
4 catches for 43 yards, TD

‒ Brayden Daub
2 catches for 19 yards

‒ Konlyn Anderson
2 catches for 17 yards

‒ Taylor Bessent
1 catch for 6 yards

‒ Case Markham
1 catch for 4 yards

***

TEAM DEFENSE
44.3 points per game (133)
474.6 yards per game (1,424)
284.3 rushing yards per game (853)
190.3 passing yards per game (571)

TACKLES
‒ Dryden Anderson
29 tackles, 2.5 for loss, 0.5 sacks, 1 FR

‒ Jaylan Brown
23 tackles, 2.5 for loss

‒ Noah Barron
22 tackles

‒ Quentin Thompson
20 tackles

‒ Owen Huntsinger
18 tackles, 1 INT

‒ Case Markham
18 tackles

‒ Jordan Leach
16 tackles, 0.5, 1 FR

‒ Brandon Holland

13 tackles, 0.5 sacks

‒ Cole Miller
12 tackles, 0.5 for loss, 1 INT

‒ Quinten McCarty
10 tackles, 2.5 for loss

‒ Elias Huerta-Doud

8 tackles, 1 FR

‒ Azariah Dillard
8 tackles, 0.5 for loss

‒ Zaiden Lopez
8 tackles

‒ Christian Chambers
7 tackles

‒ Taylor Bessent
4 tackles

‒ Brayden Daub
2 tackles

‒ Jason Jackson
1 tackle

‒ Uriah King
1 tackle

***

TURNOVER MARGIN: (0)
Brownwood 5 — 5 fumbles
Opponents 5 — 3 fumbles, 2 INTs

***

PENALTIES

28 penalties for 250 yards

(9.3 flags for 83.3 yards per game)