The Brownwood Lions have taken the initial step toward achieving their goal of capturing the program’s first district championship since 2010, and look to continue on their quest Thursday night in San Angelo. Awaiting, on a short week, is the Lake View Chiefs, who are in the midst of a three-game slide.

Kickoff between the Lions (5-2, 1-0), ranked as high as No. 10 this week in the Padilla Poll Class 4A Division I rankings, and Lake View (3-4, 0-1) is slated for 7 p.m. Thursday at San Angelo Stadium.

The Lions are coming off a 41-10 home triumph against Big Spring in the District 2-4A Division I opener as the Brownwood defense yielded 407 yards, but forced five turnovers. Meanwhile, the offense churned out 442 yards behind a balanced attack of 229 yards on the ground and 213 through the air.

Lake View won three of its first four games, but has since dropped three straight including last week’s league debut against Andrews, 33-0. During the Chiefs’ recent slide, Lake View has been outscored 81-6 and shutout twice.

Against Andrews last week, Lake View mustered just 126 yards of total offense, including 37 rushing, while giving up 401 yards.

“They’ve got some good defensive guys and offensive line guys, but they haven’t settled on a quarterback” said Lions head coach Sammy Burnett. “If No. 8 (Bryce Medley) is in the game they’re going to do a lot more throwing than they normally do. No. 2 (Esaias Salazar) has played quarterback and so has No. 7 (Auston Perez). Sometimes they get in a wishbone and try and pound you, I don’t think they’ll do that against us, but they may to try and keep the ball our of our hands. We’re going to have to be prepared to come out and defend anything from a three-back set to a one-back set. If they’re in the gun I think No. 8 will be back there, he can throw the ball well and he’s a good athlete. They’ve got some good receivers, they’ve got some good pass concepts. We have to be good at what we do and defend what they do.”

Medley (27 of 77, 410 yards, 2 TDs, 6 INTs) and Salazar (21 of 48, 294 yards, 3 TDs, 3 INTs) have seen the most time behind center, while receiving threats include Davashitan Manely (17-241, 2 TDs), Adrian Flores (10-165), and Derrick Taylor (8-193, 3 TDs). Top rushers include former Bangs Dragon Ian Cortez (525 yards, 5 TDs) and Ricky Ramirez (415 yards, 5 TDs).

Brownwood counters with a defense that gives up 20 points and 312 yards – 171 rushing and 141 passing – per game, with 13 takeaways. However, Burnett wants to see the Lions become surer tacklers as the games going forward increase in importance.

“We focused on our back end this week and they’ve been very studious about not accepting that we gave up 333 passing yards,” Burnett said in reference to the Big Spring performance. “If you look at it that way, Lake View could come out and throw the ball a lot more than we’ve seen on film to counter what they saw on film from us last week. We’ll settle into the ball game, figure out their game plan and make adjustments accordingly.

“We’ve really worked hard on tackling that this week. A lot of it is technique and we’ve been breaking it down and putting in drills that will be effective and impactful in a short amount of time. It’s not that we can’t do it, but our technique has suffered whether it’s lack of attention to detail or whatever it may be. But we’ve worked really hard the last few days to build on what we’re doing and hopefully we’ll see evidence of that on Thursday and continue to see evidence of that through district. We have to be sure tacklers, because you saw against Stephenville what can happen if you miss a tackle here or there. Elite teams don’t do that, and we know if you want to be an elite team we have to be better tacklers.”

Standouts for the Lions defense are Chance Jones (66 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 for loss, 1 punt block), Sam Kallman (63 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 for loss, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery), Quinten McCarty (60 tackles, 7 for loss, 1 punt block, 1 fumble recovery), Jake Jetton (50 tackles, 2 for loss, 2 fumble recoveries), Stevie Ramirez (45 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 for loss, 1 fumble recovery), Cole Miller (38 tackles, 1 for loss, 2 sacks, 1 fumble recovery), Hayden Noe (37 tackles, 1 PBU), Noah Barron (32 tackles), Case Markham (28 tackles, 1 interception, 1 PBU), Jordyn Nickerson (23 tackles, 1 for loss), Trent Loftin (21 tackles, 1 sack, 1 for loss), Jaylan Brown (20 tackles, 1 sack, 1 for loss), Hayden Deen (18 tackles), and Morsello Hooker (17 tackles, 1 for loss, 4 interceptions, 4 PBUs).

On the offensive side of the ball, the Lions are expected to have all their weapons for the first time since the opening week of the season. With the development of the passing game over the past few weeks, to go along with a pounding ground attack, the potential exists for the Lions to become extremely explosive going forward.

“I’m really excited about it,” Burnett said in regarding to the passing game. “With Jason Jackson on one side and Thad Hinds on the other, are you going to play press man, off man or try and play some kind of zone? It gives people problems when you have to defend both sides of the field. Jordan Leach has also been amazing, but he’s a dark horse weapon that people don’t look at much cause he’s not No. 18 or No. 8. Ike (Hall) will be back and he’s confident in what’s he’s doing, and the offensive line looked really good this week and graded out last Friday night higher than any night all year. And then Konlyn (Anderson), of course, is going a great job running the ball. We’re getting close to hitting on all cylinders and we feel like we have an offense that can put points on the board. We feel like we should put up 40 a game, and that’ll take pressure off the defense. I just want to see us continue to grow and reach that maximum potential at the right time, and when that happens you never know what could happen.”

Behind the front line of Chris Robinson, Roan Aguinaga, Damian Sanchez, Slayde Espinoza and Isaac Gray, the Lions are generating 35 points and 393 yards – 202 rushing and 191 passing – per contest, with 10 turnovers.

Hall has connected on 72 of 126 passes for 1,121 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions, while rushing for 401 yards six touchdowns. Anderson (811 rushing yards, 11 TDs; 8-56 receiving) is coming off a 196-yard, three-touchdown performance, while Logan McKibben (172 rushing, 3 TDs) provides a change of pace in the backfield. The vast receiving weapons include Hinds (25-500, 5 TDs), Leach (23-342, TD), Jackson (11-255, 4 TDs), Daub (8-124), and Taylor Bessent (4-29).

The Lake View defense is giving up 25 points per game on average, but has forced 15 turnovers including 11 interceptions.

Leading the way defensively for the Chiefs are Taven White (79 tackles, 5 for loss, 2 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 interception), Eric Paez Jr. (63 tackles), Elijah Stone (50 tackles, 5 for loss, 1 sack), Juan Ortiz (48 tackles), David Torres (30 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 interception), and Michael Duran (17 tackles, 4 interceptions).

Burnett reported the Lions are expected to be as healthy as they’ve been at any point during the regular season when kickoff takes place Thursday night.

“Colton McMillan will be the only one on the sideline that doesn’t have a chance to play due to injury,” Burnett said. “Everyone else is on the active roster and ready to roll.”

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Brownwood is a 41-point favorite.

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Brownwood Lions 2022 Football Season Stats

Through 7 Games (5-2, 1-0)

TEAM OFFENSE

34.7 points per game (243)

393.4 yards per game (2,754)

202.8 rushing yards per game (1,420)

190.6 passing yards per game (1,334)

56.3 completion percentage (82 of 142)

PASSING

* Ike Hall

72 of 126 for 1,121 yards, 7 TDs, 4 INTs

* Chance Jones

10 of 16 for 213 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs

RUSHING

* Konlyn Anderson

811 yards on 155 carries, 11 TDs

* Ike Hall

401 yards on 67 carries, 6 TDs

* Logan McKibben

172 yards on 35 carries, 3 TDs

* Case Markham

20 yards on 3 carries

* Chance Jones

17 yards on 3 carries

RECEIVING

* Thad Hinds

25 catches, 500 yards, 5 TDs

* Jordan Leach

23 catches, 342 yards, 1 TD

* Jason Jackson

11 catches, 255 yards, 4 TDs

* Brayden Daub

8 catches, 124 yards

* Konlyn Anderson

8 catches, 56 yards

* Taylor Bessent

4 catches, 29 yards

* Morsello Hooker

2 catches, 8 yards

* Hayden Noe

1 catch, 10 yards

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TEAM DEFENSE

20.3 points per game (142)

312.0 yards per game (2,184)

171.1 rushing yards per game (1,198)

140.9 passing yards per game (986)

59.2 opponents completion percentage (87 of 147)

TACKLES

* Chance Jones

66 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 for loss, 1 punt block

* Sam Kallman

63 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 for loss, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery

* Quinten McCarty

60 tackles, 7 for loss, 1 punt block, 1 fumble recovery

* Jake Jetton

50 tackles, 2 for loss, 2 fumble recoveries

* Stevie Ramirez

45 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 for loss, 1 fumble recovery

* Cole Miller

38 tackles, 1 for loss, 2 sacks, 1 fumble recovery

* Hayden Noe

37 tackles, 1 PBU

* Noah Barron

32 tackles

* Case Markham

28 tackles, 1 interception, 1 PBU

* Jordyn Nickerson

23 tackles, 1 for loss

* Trent Loftin

21 tackles, 1 sack, 1 for loss

* Jaylan Brown

20 tackles, 1 sack, 1 for loss

* Hayden Deen

18 tackles

* Morsello Hooker

17 tackles, 1 for loss, 4 interceptions, 4 PBUs

* Davis Le

16 tackles

* Azariah Dillard

12 tackles

* Logan McKibben

10 tackles

* Logan Knight

9 tackles

* Colton McMillian

7 tackles

* Brayden Daub

6 tackles

* Jordan Leach

5 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 PBU

* Xavier Zepada

5 tackles

* Bryan Osbourn

3 tackles

* Tristan Salinas

2 tackles

* Isaiah Rodriguez

1 tackle

* Junior Martinez

1 tackle

* Dryden Anderson

1 tackle

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KICKING

* Junior Martinez

6 of 7 FGs – long of 45

31 of 32 PATs

49 points

14 punts, 573 yards, 40.9 average – long of 58

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TURNOVER MARGIN (+3)

* Brownwood: 10 (4 fumbles, 6 interceptions)

* Opponents: 13 (7 fumbles, 6 interceptions)

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PENALTIES

* Brownwood: 53 for 524 yards (7.6 for 74.9 per game)

* Opponents: 53 for 448 yards (7.6 for 64.0 per game)