COLLEGE STATION – After facing the reigning Class 4A Division I state champion in pool play, the Brownwood Lions tangled with the defending Class 4A Division II champion tobegin play in the 32-team 7-on-7 Division II championship bracket Friday at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex.
Similar to Thursday’s 19-13 loss to eventually tournament runner-up Argyle, the Lions had opportunities to upend the Carthage Bulldogs before coming up short, 19-12, in Friday’s 7-on-7 season finale.
“I couldn’t be any more proud of them, and that’s what I told them,” said Lions head coach Sammy Burnett, who observed Friday’s contest. “They listened to us coaching them up after yesterday. We were disappointed in them a great deal to be honest and we let them have it. They came out today, got here on time, prepared themselves, were ready to play a game and fought to the bitter end, and did that with great character and class which is what we expect in Brownwood, Texas.”
Neither team scored on its first drive, but Carthage grabbed a 6-0 advantage after its second possession. The Lions answered in just three plays with a deep strike from Chance Jones to Jason Jackson, whose one-handed grab knotted the score at 6.
Carthage regained a 12-6 lead later in the first half, while the Lions’ final drive before the half came up short of the end zone.
Brownwood opened the second half with a three-and-out and Carthage followed with a touchdown to open a 19-6 cushion.
The Lions then responded with a six-play scoring drive that ended with a touchdown toss from Jones to Elias Huerta-Doud, closing the gap to 19-12.
Brownwood’s defense then stuffed Carthage on its final two possessions, presenting the Lions an opportunity to either tie or potentially win the game.
The first chance for the Lions ended with a dropped pass in the end zone on a third and long. On the second, Brownwood advanced inside the 15 for a goal-to-goal situation, but was held out of the end zone the final four snaps of the contest as Carthage held on to advance to the round of 16.
“It came down to just a couple of plays, if we make one more play we’re right there,” Burnett said. “It’s a fine line, but they made a couple of plays that we didn’t, that was the difference in the ball game. We gave ourselves a chance to win it, we just didn’t come up with the big play. But I told them to hold their heads high because they came out and did what we expected them to do, they responded, they played as a team, and I thought they played well.”
The Lions scored on two of seven possessions as Jones completed 17 of 31 passes (55 percent) with two touchdowns and a pair of four-second calls.
Elias-Huerta caught seven passes and scored once, Konlyn Anderson caught four balls, Jackson finished with three grabs and a touchdown, Brayden Daub tallied two receptions and Thad Hinds added one. Case Markham, one of the Lions’ leading receivers and defensive backs, missed the game after suffering a knee injury against Hamshire-Fannett on the last play of Thursday action.
Defensively, the Lions did not force a turnover for the first time in a 7-on-7 state game and allowed touchdowns on 3 of 6 Carthage drives.
In pool play Thursday, the Lions defeated eventual pool champion The Woodlands Christian, 26-20, but fell to Hamshire-Fannett, 25-19, and Argyle – which lost to Kaufman in Friday’s state championship game.
Brownwood posted an 8-11 record over six 7-on-7 state tournament this summer, but earned a 21st straight state trip.
“Coaches talk about not enjoying 7-on-7 very much, but I heard a comment from a coach that the goal is if you can come out in 7-on-7 and get 1 percent better than you’ve done what you needed to do as a program,” Burnett said. “When I listened to that it made sense and I’m going to share that with our kids. Our goal was to come out here and get better, to be able to evaluate some kids, to see if we have people in the right spots. I think we did that, our kids persevered and got to the state tournament. And in that last game, I felt like we finished the right way.”
The next milestone for the Lions football program falls on Aug. 2 when preseason practices begin. Up until that point, Burnett said, “We’ll go back to work in the weight room and get our strength and conditioning in. We’ll still do our skill work during the week and make sure we have the right people in the right spots. I still think we have some decisions to make there. But we want to give ourselves the best opportunity to come into Aug. 2 ready to go from the get-go.”
