“It’s a great opponent any time you play Wylie,” said Lions fifth-year head coach Sammy Burnett, who owns a 23-21 record during his tenure in Brownwood. “There’s a lot of recent history there with Brownwood against Abilene Wylie. Regardless of the classification we’re going to try and play them because it’s a good game and a good test for us.”
Burnett stated the objective behind another rigorous pre-district gauntlet is to prepare the Lions – who are coming off a 4-7 season a year ago – for their District 2-4A Division I foes and a hopeful lengthy playoff run. Wylie, which knocked off the Lions, 49-21, last season, will definitely provide an immediate measuring stick for Brownwood.
The Bulldogs return 31 players from a 4-6 team a year ago, but just five offensive and three defensive starters. Wylie’s strengths are expected to be a massive offensive line – led by Cayden Clay, Jayse Robinson, Daniel Mason, and Cameron Van, who are all pushing the 300-pound mark – and a talented receiving corps that features Dave Campbell’s Texas Football District 2-5A Division II Preseason Offensive MVP Reese Borho and Harrison Heighten. The Bulldogs are breaking in a new starting quarterback, K.J. Long, on offense, and several of the defensive starters – including the bulk of the starting linebacker corps – are fresh faces as well. All-district defensive end Ryan Price is back to serve as an anchor on that side of the ball.
In a recent scrimmage against 5A Division I Abilene High, Wylie reached the end zone a couple of times and gave up a pair of touchdowns as well.
“They have great numbers, 60 kids on the roster so they have a lot of kids that can platoon in,” Burnett said of Wylie. “They’re extremely big up front. All across the board up front they’re extremely impressive but we’re going to play fast and try and do our thing.”
The Lions, meanwhile, are coming off scrimmages against Decatur and Lampasas where Brownwood’s new 3-3 stack defensive scheme has paid early dividends. Against Decatur, Brownwood did not allow a touchdown while in a live quarter against Lampasas, the Lions intercepted a pair of passes and gave up just one score on a busted coverage.
Leading the charge thus far have been Quentin McCarty, Cole Miller and Davis Le up front; Chance Jones, Sam Kallman and Jaylan Brown at the linebacker spots; and Dryden Anderson, Case Markham, Colton McMillian, Noah Barron and Morsello Hooker in the secondary. Other players have made impacts as well, and Burnett did not reveal if any changes will be made in the lineup for the season opener.
“Defensively, we have a great group of athletes and I want to see them fly around,” Burnett said of the goals against Wylie. “I want to see them at the football when the whistle blows and I want them to be dominant. I want them to arrive violently and set the tone and let them know that we’re here for four quarters. On the back end, I want to see our secondary communicating, making sure we’re in the right coverages, adjusting to their motions , things like that and make sure we’re all on the same page.
“Reflecting back to the scrimmages, our defense has done an outstanding job stopping two worthy opponents in Lampasas and Decatur. Where they’ve gotten us has been in the secondary where we busted an assignment and got beat over the top. We feel like if we can make them drive down the field to score, make them kick a field goal or punt, that’s an advantage for us. We just don’t want to give up the big play. We have to rally to the football and play with great passion, and we’ve shown that.”
Offensively, the Lions seemed to find their stride in the live quarter of scrimmage action against Lampasas, where they produced four touchdowns in the span of just 15 minutes.
Quarterback Ike Hall rushed for touchdowns of 23 and 9 yards and threw a 43-yard scoring toss to Thad Hinds. Also, Konlyn Anderson added an 8-yard touchdown carry.
Behind an offensive line rotation of Chris Robinson, Slayde Espinoza, Isaac Gray, Damian Sanchez, Roan Aguinaga and Logan Knight, the Lions produced 191 yards on just 18 snaps in the quarter, an average of 10.6 yards per play. Hall completed all four of his pass attempts for 106 yards – including a 28-yarder to Jason Jackson that was negated by penalty. Hall also rushed four times for 56 yards while Anderson chipped in 29 yards on eight carries. Hinds scored on a 43-yard reception, Jordan Leach caught a 27-yard pass and Brayden Daub added an 8-yard reception.
Regarding the plan for Friday night against Wylie, Burnett said, “Offensively, we have to control the line of scrimmage up front. Wylie has a very good defensive line with two returning starters, and they have a good linebacker in the middle. They’ve also got some skill guys returning on the outside with the cornerbacks.
“I like to run the football so we need to control them up front. If we can run the football it sets up our passing game, and I think we can be successful. We have a chance to be dominant on the outside with our receivers, we have four or five guys that can go, but we have to make sure when we have an opportunity to catch the ball we do so and take all the yardage we can get.”
Special teams is third phase of the game, and one that does not get much attention during scrimmages. Friday will give Burnett and company a better idea of where the unit stands, but optimism is running high.
“We’re fortunate that we have a group of guys that are built to be special teams specialists,” Burnett said. “What I mean by that is in the role they’re playing right now, they’re taking it seriously and going down and executing. We have a bunch of guys starting on offense or defense that are backing up those guys and it’s become a contest to see who covers kickoffs the best, or can we break a return in practice. This is probably the first time in my 30 years of coaching, sometimes kids think special teams is a time to take off, but our kids aren’t doing that. They’re focusing hard on everything from extra points to punts and they know if we win that phase of the game it sets us up for a greater opportunity to win the football game. I’m really excited about how they’re pushing each other to be great.”
Burnett stated winning all three phases of the game and avoiding shooting themselves in the foot will be the biggest keys for the Lions to come away with a 1-0 record Friday.
“We can’t beat ourselves,” Burnett said. Our greatest opponent is ourselves. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, it’s how we play and if we go into it with that mentality we feel we can be successful. We have to go there and execute and win all three phases of the game. I don’t have to question the guys’ character and heart and want to, they’ll bring that, but we just have to stay within ourselves and play for four quarters.
“When you start a football game everybody is hitting each other in the mouth and they’re excited, the adrenaline is flowing and everyone is at an even keel. As the game keeps progressing and you start wearing down and your body starts getting taxed, does your mind take over and start leading your body, or do you keep pressing on when you can’t press on. The team that rises up through the third and fourth quarter is the one that’s going to be successful. We’re about to go into a dogfight and if you go into the fight be prepared to go and don’t quit til it’s over. You look up when the last buzzer sounds and see what the score it, but you play every play like it’s your last play and you do it with great passion. If we do that, don’t turn the ball over, protect the football, and don’t give up big plays, I think we have a great opportunity to be successful.”
According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Brownwood is a 10-point underdog.