The Brownwood Lions had an inkling of just how good they could be in 2022 based on their season opener, when they almost rallied to upend what turned out to be a Region I-5A Division I finalist squad in the Abilene Wylie Bulldogs.

Fast forward 12 months and the Lions again will experience an immediate litmus test as Harris Ratings Weekly’s Class 4A Division I No. 13 Brownwood kicks off its campaign at 7 p.m. Friday at 5A Division II No. 17 Wylie in a rematch of last year’s 30-24 nail-biter.

“It’s a great opportunity to measure where we’re at, but you better get ready or they’re going to hit you in the mouth,” said Lions sixth-year head coach Sammy Burnett, who enters the season with a 91-56 career record, including a 33-24 mark at Brownwood. “We feel like we can play with anybody, but you better learn to fight real fast because they’re going to bring it. They’ve got 73 kids on the roster and the advantage and ability to shuffle more kids in and out, but we feel like we’re pretty tough and want to display our toughness. It doesn’t matter the numbers, you can only put 11 on the field at one time. We want to test our mettle and see how mentally and physically tough we are, and how we respond to adversity and success.”

The biggest challenge for the Lions will likely come on the offensive side of the ball, where the only starter back from 2022 is quarterback Ike Hall (111 of 208 for 1,837 yards, 17 TDs, 6 INTs passing; 948 yards, 12 TDs). The offense will feature 10 new starters – including the entire offensive line – and half of the new starters will be sophomores as five are set to take the first snap Friday night.

Aside with coming away with a Week 1 victory, Burnett said the goals for the offense include, “Gaining confidence, gelling, figuring it out, and playing together. I don’t want to see adversity or bickering amongst each other but drawing strength from each other. We’ll have busted assignments and busted plays, but you have to have a short memory and block that out and play the next play. What matters is the effort you put on the field and the heart you leave out there when it’s done. The scoreboard will wind up taking care of itself.”

The five sophomores in the starting lineup include Levi Pearson at running back, Aidan Packheiser at right guard, Carson Noe at one outside receiver, and Aaron Edmonds and Stone Ratliff as the inside receivers.

The rest of the new look offensive line features Quinten McCarty at left tackle, Cole Miller at left guard, Davis Le at center and Logan Knight at right tackle – all four who served as key contributors on the defensive line a season ago.

“Offensively, we have to put some points on the board and execute and every time we have a drive hopefully that ends up in some form or points, or at least a punt so there’s no turnovers,” Burnett said. “We have to establish the line of scrimmage and be dominant on the line of scrimmage. Three yards a pop will turn into 5 yards a pop and will turn into first downs and will turn into them have to bring people back in the box which will open up our passing game and give us a chance to get kids the ball out in space.”

Wylie will counter with a defense that returns five starters from a 10-4 squad a year ago including defensive end Larry Smith Jr. and linebackers Collin Bruning (128 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception), Josh Patterson (50 tackles, 2 TFL) and Ethan Hoffman (38 tackles, 5 TFL). The secondary welcomes back safety Hayden Wright (60 tackles, 9 INTs) and cornerback Kenny Scott (41 tackles, 3 PBUs).

“They have a lot of big young men, that’s something they are definitely blessed with is a lot of size,” Burnett said. “So we have to beat them with speed and leverage on both sides of the ball and just execute.”

The strength for the Lions going into the season is the defense, which held Abilene Wylie scoreless in the second half last year after a rocky first two quarters.

The most experienced position group is linebacker with Sam Kallman (134 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 for loss, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery) in the middle and Stevie Ramirez (81 tackles, 4 sacks, 3 for loss, 1 fumble recovery) and Jaylan Brown (48 tackles, 1 for loss, 3 sacks) on the outside.

The secondary features the return of cornerbacks Morsello Hooker (31 tackles, 1 for loss, 6 interceptions, 10 PBUs) and Jordyn Nickerson (47 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 interception), along with Jake Jetton at the nickel (Jake Jetton 108 tackles, 3 for loss, 2 fumble recoveries), while Hayden Noe (53 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 PB) and varsity newcomer Noah Gonzalez will man the safety spots.

Up front, Robert Trowbridge (4 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery), Julius Lara, and Weston Wolf are taking over for McCarty (128 tackles, 17 for loss, 2 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 punt block), Le (47 tackles), and Miller (63 tackles, 1 for loss, 2 sacks, 1 fumble recovery) who may also be sprinkled in defensively from time to time.

Offensive returnees for Wylie include Malachi Daniels (99-414, 7 TDs rushing; 9-148, 2 TDs) and Julius Laine (68-398, 5 TDs rushing) in the backfield along with receivers Braden Regala (90-1,385, 12 TDs receiving; 9-106, 3 TDs rushing), Derrick Evans (18-323, 4 TDs receiving) and Hunter Hood (14-346, 3 TDs receiving). Cameron Vann, at 6-5, 315 pounds, anchors a massive offensive line.

“We’re going to be led by our defense and we have to find a way to keep them out of the end zone,” Burnett said. “Their slot receiver Regala is an outstanding athlete and he ran a reverse against last year he broke for a big-time touchdown. We have to make sure we stymie him, rally to him when he gets the ball and make sure he doesn’t get extra yards when he catches it. Both of their quarterbacks are very good and they’re sort of the same in the way they do things, but one’s a right-handed deliverer and one’s a left-handed deliverer of the ball, but they’re both high quality young men that play the position well. We can’t give up the big play on defense, we have to make them drive the field to score. Our goals for the game are to give up 13 points or less.”

Special teams are also expected to play a significant role again in Week 1, as tends to be the case for recent Brownwood season openers.

“You don’t want to say they’re more important than later in the year, but a lot of times your special teams aren’t as advanced in Week 1 and you can make mistakes early, as we did last year by snapping the ball over the punter’s head for a safety in this game,” Burnett said. “That started the momentum swing for them.”

According to Harris Rating Weekly, Brownwood is a 7-point underdog.

The Lions last defeated Wylie on Sept. 27, 2019 by a 33-0 count in Abilene.