If the Brownwood Lions’ 2021 campaign were to extend all the way to late December and an appearance at AT&T Stadium in the Class 4A Division I state championship game, it’s unlikely any contest will be wilder than what was experienced in Friday night’s season opener at Gordon Wood Stadium.
In a game that featured 1,192 yards of total offense, 60 first downs, 14 touchdowns, five field goals and four turnovers, the Lions overcame a 14-point first-quarter deficit to take the lead, then a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to snatch a 58-55 victory from the Lampasas Badgers, ranked No. 10 in 4A Division I by Harris Ratings Weekly.
“The resilience we talk to our kids about as far as being a Brownwood Lion, what it means to be a Brownwood Lion and to outwork people, outgrind people, never give up and to play every play, they came out and did that tonight,” said Lions’ fourth-year head coach Sammy Burnett, who improved to 20-14 at his alma mater. “As I talked to them after the game I told them I want you to feel what this feels like because you became Brownwood Lions tonight. This is a big win overcoming all the adversity.”
Brownwood sophomore kicker Junior Martinez booted three field goals – from 25 yards, 28 yards and the game-winner from 21 yards as time expired, which led to a euphoric reaction from the Lions who rushed the field to celebrate their victory.
“He’s a sophomore that has two game-winning field goals already,” Burnett said. “I talked to him about if he wanted us to take a delay to set it back 5 yards and set up a better angle and he said ‘No coach, it’s just fine,’ and didn’t waver. He had all the confidence in the world and I knew he’d make it if we got the snap and the hold.”
The winning kick came after the Lions got the ball back following a 25-yard touchdown pass from Lampasas’ Dylan Sanchez to Ethan Moreno with 1:48 left, which evened the score at 55.
“When they were down seven and came back with two minutes left, that’s what we we prepared for,” Martinez said. “It all comes down to practice. If the snap and the hold are good, I know I’m going to do good.”
Brownwood caught the ensuing kick – which wasn’t a given at any points during the evening – and began the winning drive at its own 40 as Lampasas was flagged for being offsides. The Lions ran seven plays – all on the ground – and traveled 57 yards with 56 of those yards coming from Konlyn Anderson, who finished with 286 yards and three touchdowns on 35 carries.
Behind a front five of Slayde Espinoza, Brandon Still, Ethan Pesina, Alex Reyna and Damian Sanchez, the Lions’ new uptempo offensive attack took its toll on the Lampasas defense as Brownwood finished with 579 yards of total offense – 388 rushing and 191 passing.
“They’re big and we were laying on them and laying on them, and you can’t move them much,” Burnett said. “But when they’re standing up we’re able to push them back a yard or two and then you have a powerful back like Konlyn Anderson, his yards after contact were big and we just kept pounding the rock. I knew if we could run the football we’d be fine. I talked to our guys on the bench, they had all kinds of life and weren’t tired so I knew we were going to be fine and be able to move the chains.”
Pesina added, “It all comes down to work during the week. We worked so hard. Practice was harder than the game because of the conditioning part, but overall we did really good.”
Brownwood’s defense surrendered 613 total yards – 358 and seven touchdowns through the air and 255 on the ground – but forced one turnover, which changed the entire complexion of the contest.
Trailing 48-38 with 11:03 left and Lampasas driving, the Lions forced a fumble by Cade Brister – who rushed for 203 yards and caught three passes for 60 yards and two scores – that Jordan Leach recovered for Brownwood at its 32.
“They fought their butts off,” Burnett said of the defense. “We still have a long ways to go but they showed up tonight and they played. We’ve got a lot of things to fix but when you get a win, you get a win, however it is. We knew we’d have to score a lot of points until we picked up some things defensively, but I think those guys learned some lessons today and those are valuable lessons going into next week.”
A pair of passes covering 42 yards, and then 26 yards into the end zone, from Chance Jones to Jason Jackson allowed the Lions to trim to deficit to 48-45 with just over 10 minutes left. Jones finished with 191 yards through the air and two scores while rushing for 49 yards and two more touchdowns. Jackson amassed a team-best 96 receiving yards on four catches.
The Lions then forced a rare three-and-out on Lampasas’ next possession, aided by a snap that got away from the quarterback Sanchez. Then, on fourth down, Badger punter Dax Brookreson fell on the snap he dropped at the Brownwood 4. On the very next snap, Anderson darted into the end zone and the Lions owned a 52-48 edge with 8:27 left.
The Badgers punted after one first down on the ensuing possession and the Lions ventured from their own 45 to the Lampasas 11, capping the drive with a 28-yard field goal from Martinez that capped a string of 17 straight Brownwood points that resulted in a 55-48 lead.
Lampasas drove 75 yards in eight plays and 2:58 to draw even, however.
The possession prior to the Badgers’ fumble that flipped the momentum, Brister appeared to score on a 42-yard carry that would have put the Lions in a 17-point hole late in the third period. However, the play was overturned due to one of the 10 penalties for 115 yards against Lampasas, which turned out to be another bullet dodged by the Lions. That Badger possession was set up by the third kickoff the Lions misplayed into a turnover.
“Our kids now understand sense of urgency when we’re working on special teams, that it’s all important, every phase of the game,” Burnett said. “We almost let kick off returns us cost us tonight.”
The Lions dug themselves a 14-0 hole less than four minutes into the game after failing to field the first two kickoffs sent their way. Lampasas responded to the turnovers with scoring connections of 19 and 39 yards from Sanchez to Nate Borchardt.
By the end of the first quarter, Brownwood had shaved the deficit to 17-14 on a pair of 2-yard Jones touchdown carries. Then, with 9:14 left in the first half, Anderson scored on a 1-yard plunge to give the Lions their first lead, 21-17.
Lampasas answered with a 69-yard scoring toss from Sanchez to Moreno, but Anderson responded with a 63-yard touchdown sprint – both one-play drives – as Brownwood’s lead stood at 28-24 at the 8:32 mark of the second period.
“The offensive line did good, and the win felt good,” Anderson said of Friday night’s performance.
Brister caught a 23-yard touchdown pass to push Lampasas back in front, 31-28, but Hinds later grabbed a 29-yard scoring toss from Jones to give the edge back to Brownwood, 35-31, with 1:20 to go in the second half.
A first half that featured 685 total yards and 34 first downs ended with the 10th touchdown, belonging to Lampasas, on a 30-yard reception by Brister which gave the Badgers 38-35 halftime edge.
Next week, the Lions visit Midland Greenwood (0-1), which is coming off a 16-7 loss to Lubbock Estacado.
“Any time you win you’re able to coach kids harder and they’re more receptive to listening to you,” Burnett said. “For us to get a win like this tonight they’ll be a lot more coachable, they’ll pay a lot more attention to detail and it will propel us into more success.”
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Brownwood 58, Lampasas 55
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Lampasas 17 21 10 7 – 55
Brownwood 14 21 3 20 – 58
SCORING SUMMARY
L: Nate Borchardt 19 pass from Dylan Sanchez (Landon Richardson kick), 8:53, 1st – 0-7
L: Borchardt 39 pass from Sanchez (Richardson kick), 8:38, 1st – 0-14
B: Chance Jones 2 run (Junior Martinez kick), 6:37, 1st – 7-14
L: Richardson 27 FG, 2:39, 1st – 7-17
B: Jones 2 run (Martinez kick), 0:19, 1st – 14-17
B: Konlyn Anderson 1 run (Martinez kick), 9:14, 2nd – 21- 17
L: Ethan Moreno 69 pass from Sanchez (Richardson kick), 8:52, 2nd, 21-24
B: Anderson 63 run (Martinez kick), 8:32, 2nd, – 28-24
L: Cade Brister 23 pass from Sanchez (Richardson kick), 7:16, 2nd – 28-31
B: Thad Hinds 29 pass from Jones (Martinez kick), 1:20, 2nd, – 35-31
L: Brister 30 pass from Sanchez (Richardson kick), 0:17, 2nd, 35-38
L: Richardson 39 FG, 8:25, 3rd – 35-41
B: Martinez 25 FG, 4:29, 3rd, 38-41
L: Owen Stubbs 2 pass from Sanchez (Richardson kick), 2:44, 3rd, 38-48
B: Jason Jackson 26 pass from Jones (Martinez kick), 10:14, 4th, 45-48
B: Anderson 4 run (Martinez kick), 8:27, 4th, 52-48
B: Martinez 28 FG, 4:46, 4th – 55-48
L: Moreno 25 pass from Sanchez (Richardson kick), 1:48, 4th – 55-55
B: Martinez 21 FG, 0:00, 4th – 58-55
TEAM STATS
Lamp Bwd
First Downs 31 29
Total Offense 613 579
Rushes-Yards 36-255 53-388
Passing Yards 358 191
Comp-Att-Int 25-37-0 10-20-0
Punts 4-39.0 2-26.5
Fumbles Lost 1 3
Penalties-Yards 10-115 8-68
PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: Lampasas – Cade Brister 24-203; Ethan Moreno 3-38; Dylan Sanchez 7-22; Dax Brookreson 2-(-5). Brownwood – Konlyn Anderson 35-286, 3 TDs; Jaylan Brown 9-53; Chance Jones 7-49, 2 TDs.
PASSING: Lampasas – Sanchez 25-37-0-358, 7 TDs. Brownwood – Jones 10-20-0-191, 2 TDs.
RECEIVING: Lampasas –Moreno 9-162, 2 TDs; Nate Borchardt 9-116, 2 TDs; Brister, 3-60, 2 TDs; Landon Richardson 3-18; Owen Stubbs 1-2, TD; Sanchez 1-(-7). Brownwood – Jason Jackson 4-96, TD; Elias Huerta-Doud 4-44; Thad Hinds 1-29, TD; Brayden Daub 1-22.
