The first of four 7-on-7 Division II state qualifying tournaments takes place for the Brownwood Lions Saturday as Ponder hosts as a 16-team field at Justin Northwest High School – signifying the beginning of the countdown toward the start 2022 gridiron campaign.
The Lions have been hosting their own 7-on-7 league on Monday nights at Brownwood High School, but the competition and intensity will climb a notch this weekend.
Brownwood returns a solid nucleus from last year’s 4-7 playoff team, but with several players back and the shift to Region I in Class 4A Division I, expectations within and surrounding the program have increased.
The next four weeks of competition, and possibly a 22nd straight trip to the 7-on-7 state tournament, will be crucial in helping the Lions prepare for what’s coming in the fall.
Brownwood Lions head football coach Sammy Burnett said of the importance of 7-on-7, “It allows your kids to think on their own. They’re going to have to come up with plays and communicate with each other on what they see and what they’re doing and how they can get open. They can develop a playbook for themselves that they like, things they feel they can go to, what’s good on third down, what they trust. I get that information from them so later on as we go through the course of a game I know what kids like and that’s always good.
“Defensively, it’s constant communication and you have to do it on the fly. It does build communication and it can go two ways – positive or negative – but we haven’t had much of the negative.”
Offensively, Ike Hall has taken the bulk of snaps at quarterback with the varsity offense during the Lions’ 7-on-7 league play.
“He’s growing every time I see him throw the ball in our athletic period,” Burnett said of Hall. “He’s doing a good job learning and understanding the offense. He’s becoming quicker on his reads and he’s starting to throw people open instead of waiting for them to come open.”
Along the receiver front, Jason Jackson is moving to the slot from an outside position, while others expected to make an impact include Brayden Daub, Case Markham, Jordan Leach, Jake Jetton, Thad Hines and Jakson Yoder.
“Jason Jackson in the slot instead of being a wide out is going to be a big benefit for us,” Burnett said. “Once he touches the ball he can do great things. We’re going to be able to take the top off with some plays. Teams should fear the deep ball against us and that should open some windows underneath.”
Defensively, the Lions have installed a new scheme in the secondary.
“We’re running a little bit different defense this year that’s going to allow us to have a nickel in the middle of the field that’s going to be big on run support,” Burnett said, adding Jake Jetton, Dryden Anderson, and Hayden Deen are among those being used at the position.
Burnett added, “Our linebacker corps is going to be really good. We have some guys that will really thump heads with you in Jaylan Brown, Chance Jones, Sam Kallman.”
At the corner positions, Noah Barron and Morsello Hooker have seen the majority of first-team reps.
As for the Ponder tournament, the Lions find themselves in Pool B with Graham, which they face at 8:45 a.m.; Saginaw, which they battle at 10:15 a.m.; and Burkburnett in the 11:45 a.m. pool finale.
“Graham is going to be really good, they’ve got a good class,” Burnett said. “We played them last year and they were really good. That will be a big one and will set the tone for the pool.”
If Brownwood advances to the semifinals, it will face either Breckenridge, Glen Rose, Krum, or Bridgeport out of Pool A at 12:30 p.m. for a berth in the 7-on-7 Division II State Tournament June 23-24 at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex in College Station.
Brownwood will be back in action May 28 at Burnet, host its own tournament on June 4, then venture to Jim Ned June 10.
“I don’t know how many years in a row it’s been that we’ve been to the state qualifier and we may go again or we may not,” Burnett said. “I remember beating a team in the last tournament of the season last summer and they didn’t get to go to the state tournament, but they went on to win a state championship and that means more to me than playing in Bryan on a Saturday.”