After a combined eight wins and a pair of first-round playoff exits the past two seasons, the Brownwood Lions football program in 2022 is hearkening back to the successes of yesteryear.

Brownwood fifth-year head coach Sammy Burnett made no secret of his desire for the football program to return to Region I in Class 4A Division I prior to the UIL’s biennial realignment in February, and the Lions have made the most of the opportunity, posting just their fourth 10-win campaign since 2010.

The Lions (10-2) are on the verge of appearing in the Region I championship game, if they are able to knock off the Wichita Falls Coyotes (8-4) at 7 p.m. Friday at Abilene Christian University – extending a season that has featured a plethora of victories from the varsity level down to the junior high.

Leading the charge is a senior class that has relished the opportunity to guide the program toward the glory of previous decades.

“We know the kids younger than us in the seventh grade, eighth grade, and even younger, every Friday night they look forward to going and watching us,” said senior offensive lineman Slayde Espinoza. “If they see we’re having a fun time they’ll want to have a fun time. We always talk about the 2010 team and how good they were and how we want to be better. We want to be one of those teams where other teams want to strive to be better than us.”

The seniors believe the struggles of seasons past have fueled their desire to extend the 2022 campaign into December.

“We’ve always wanted a winning season and we’ve been working for it the whole time,” said senior running back Konlyn Anderson. “If we wouldn’t have been working for this all three years it wouldn’t have come together now. God is just blessing us, everything is coming together. We work hard every day and give it everything we’ve got, so it feels good.”

The Lions, who this time last year were preparing for their offseason program, started the work for 2022 began as soon as the 2021 campaign concluded.

“We started putting in the work around this time last year,” Espinoza said. “Being able to still play football and not ask your buddy, ‘what game are you going to go watch?’ is a good feeling.”

The seniors, which number 21 on this year’s squad, have welcomed the leadership role.

“With us being senior-heavy, a lot of us are taking it a lot more seriously this year, knowing what we need to do to be a good team and making it deep into the playoffs and play for a state championship,” said senior linebacker Chance Jones. “We have to pay attention to detail and not take anything for granted.”

Some scheme changes prior to the start of the season also sparked the Lions’ optimism.

‘“We’ve been more disciplined and took on the coaching,” said senior defensive back Case Markham. We have the new defensive scheme this year and we took to that really well, and everybody learned it. We’ve improved greatly. It feels really good coming from our sophomore year to last year to this year knowing how much we’ve improved on both sides of the ball and on special teams.”

Regarding the improvements, the Lions are producing 41 points and 400 yards – 240 rushing and 160 passing – per game, through their first 12 outings.

“We’re senior-heavy, especially on the offensive line, and we’ve been playing together and know what we need to do – and playing as a group is a big thing,” said Espinoza, one of five seniors on the offensive front. “We’re the biggest group out there so if we’re not all on track it’s not going to be a good night for anyone.”

Defensively, Brownwood is giving up just 15 points and 267 yards – 144 rushing and 123 passing – on average, with 21 takeaways.

“We just try and be as physical as we can every practice and every game,” Jones said. “When we practice as hard as we can, that’s going to translate over to game time. We’re disciplined, we know what gaps to hold and we all work together as a unit.”

Anderson added, “Our practices are just different. Every day we’re going as hard as we can, best on best to test each other. It’s definitely the practices and going at each other every day, we have a complete team.”

With two postseason victories to their credit, four more stand between the Lions and the elusive eighth state championship in school history. But regardless of when this season ends, the Class of 2023 has made memories of a lifetime – and left a legacy for future Lions to chase.

“When the younger kids see the varsity team winning it instills a winning tradition in the program from the middle school up,” Jones said. “They see us winning and they’re going to know that’s what’s expected and that’s the way we do it.”

Anderson chimed in, “I love football and want to play as long as I can any time I can. We’re just trying to lead by example and get everyone to follow us by showing what it takes. You have to come in, work hard every day, trust your coaches, and trust each other. It feels good that everybody is looking up to us, and it’s been a good year. It means everything, obviously.”