With four weeks of practice and two scrimmages under their belts, the Class 4A Division I No. 7 Brownwood Lions will take their first test of the regular season at 7:30 p.m. Friday, as the Class 5A Division II Abilene Wylie Bulldogs visit Gordon Wood Stadium.

The Lions return just six offensive and three defensive starters from last year’s 12-2 Class 4A Division I Region I finalist squad, as the 2024 team is still a work in progress. However, the Lions would much rather be playing their best ball of the season come November and December instead of August and September.

“Are we where we need to be right now? No. Do we have the potential to get there? Yes,” Lions seventh head coach Sammy Burnett said after the conclusion of last week’s scrimmage with Alvarado. “It’s going to be a gauntlet in the preseason. We’re going to play some extremely strong football teams and we’re going to try and go win every one of those football games. We’re going to play with great tenacity, be physical, fly around and do it with great class and character. If that results in wins it does, if it doesn’t we’ll figure out what’s going on and fix it so when we get to district we have a great chance to be three-time district champions and then move into the playoffs with an opportunity to make a deep run. That is our goal.”

Having battled more injuries than usual through much of the preseason has caused the Lions to be a little behind schedule, and Brownwood won’t be at full strength heading into the opener. But, the Lions are better off than they thought they might be just a few days ago. As of Thursday morning, it was anticipated that tight end/defensive tackles Weston Wolf and Aiden Driskill, along with kicker Eli Valenciano, would be the only players who will not suit up Friday.

“We have been bit by the injury bug, but hopefully that’ll stop and those kids can heal quickly because we need every player on our team,” Burnett said. “Some of the kids injured right now are key spokes in that wheel that we definitely have to have if we want to be successful. But for us right now, it’s next man up.”

The Lions’ highlight of the preseason came at the end, a sign of growth and development, during last week’s live quarter to conclude the Alvarado scrimmage. Brownwood owned a 7-0 advantage on the scoreboard as quarterback Judson Coalson connected with Stone Ratliff for a 26-yard touchdown pass, the Lions forced an Alvarado fumble that eventually resulted in a 45-yard field goal attempt, and the maroon and white defense turned away the Indians on a pair of trips inside the red zone.

Brownwood rotated through five offensive plays against Alvarado and ran its same base defense on every snap, as the Lions do not scheme for scrimmages. But Burnett was eager to finally begin game planning for the opener.

“I’m excited because we’re going to put a game plan together,” he said after the Alvarado scrimmage. “We’re going to spend hours and hours putting together a game plan, they’re going to practice that game plan and go out and play fast and physical and I’m excited about the opportunity. We’re going to give them a game plan that sets them up for success. We’re not going to sit on our heels anymore and let teams dictate to us, we’re going to dictate what we do defensively and offensively.”

The visiting Wylie Bulldogs return five starters on each side of the ball and 39 lettermen overall from an 8-4 team that dropped their season opener at home to the Lions, 35-21, a year ago.

Quarterback Bear Meng (2,008 passing yards, 304 rushing yards, 27 total TDs) returns to guide the offense behind a line that consists of Sutton Peck (6-3, 320), Cade Burk (6-0, 265), Bryce Brozovic (6-1, 320), Mark Esquibel (6-2, 260) and Barrett Huffington (6-1, 255).

Manning the skill positions will be running backs Julius Laine (368 rushing yards, 5 TDs), Jaden Lucero and Jaegan Smith, and receivers Hunter Hood (32-429, 6TDs), Gage Heighten (6-55, 1 TD) and Riley Robinson (8-124, 3 TDs).

“Offensively, they run multiple formations,” Burnett said. “They’re going to do what they do to try and get you confused by alignment. Most of the time they’re in a run conducive formation, but I think the strength of their offense right now is their quarterback. He has a couple of receivers he can go to, and from what I’ve seen on film from just one scrimmage they look like more of a passing team than in the past. If we can stop the run and understand the RPO game they’re trying to play and be sound defensively in what we’re calling in the back end, I think we can have some success.”

Defensively, the Lions will likely feature a rotation up front of Robert Trowbridge, Ben Wilson, Ian Barrera and Levi Pearson. The linebackers look to be Brinson Martin, Jack Field, and Enrique Vazquez, while the secondary will feature Noah Gonzalez, Kenyan McDowell, Devin Eanes, Raven Prado and Caven Webster.

“Defensively we need to line up properly and then play fast,” Burnett said. “As long as we’re on the same page, we can be successful. Simple communication on defense, playing fast, swarming to the football and everybody getting to the ball making tackles is going to be big.”

On the flip side of the ball, the Wylie 3-4 defense is anchored by safeties Hayden Wright (52 tackles, 2 interceptions) and Jake Bearden (52 tackles, 1 INT), cornerbacks Andre Gjerpe (27 tackles, 2 INTs, 4 pass breakups) and Riley Robinson, linebackers Ethan Hoffmann (45 tackles) and Romello Martinez (49 tackles), and defensive end Garrett Allison (52 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks).

“Defensively they do the same thing they normally do,” Burnett said. “They’re really fast, they’re going to do some stunting and they have a really good defensive line. They have two guys back on their line that are more quick guys than big guys, but they do have a big guy at the nose. Most of the time they try and play small and penetrate and cause problems for your offense. They have one returning linebacker back that’s really good and they moved one guy who was in the back end playing safety to linebacker. Their cornerbacks and a safety are back, so right now I think the strength of their team is their defense.”

For the Lions offense, a rotation of Aidan Packheiser, Logan Flores, Isaiah Rosas, Tristan Stephens, Aaron Clevenger and Luke Hagood will man the trenches, along with Ian Barrera at tight end. The receiving corps of Carson Noe, Grant Gray, Aaron Edmonds and Stone Ratliff are the most experienced unit on the team, while Levi Pearson and Trey Moseley are expected to get most of the work in the backfield. The quarterback position in the preseason has featured both Judson Coalson as well as Braeden Stacks. Coalson did lead Brownwood on its two touchdown drives in the scrimmages, culminating with scoring tosses.

Brownwood will also be breaking in a new kicker for the first time in four years, as Rory McNeese will handle the kicking and punting duties Friday.

“Special teams is a big part of the game and you set the tone one way or the other either with that opening kickoff or kick return,” Burnett said. “We have a great group of kids that play special teams and they’re just as important as our offense or our defense.”

For Burnett, however, a solid first quarter, especially offensively, could be the determining factor in Friday’s outcome.

“We have to win the first quarter with simple execution,” Burnett said. “Our play calling is going to be less complex so we can simply execute and feel the flow of the game. We have to stay ahead of the chains, we can’t get behind them because of penalties. Just go out and execute the game plan and once we get into the flow of the game we’ll open up things a little more.”

According to Harris Rating Weekly, Wylie is a 4-point favorite

For more on the Lions outlook heading into the 2024 campaign, click HERE.