The Brownwood Lions concluded their first week of preseason practice with the Maroon-White scrimmage Saturday morning at Gordon Wood Stadium, and fifth-year head coach Sammy Burnett offered his assessment of the first six days of work.
“No. 1, our kids came in with a great attitude and a great desire to work,” Burnett said. “Through the middle of the week, when your body’s getting sore and tired, they found a way to mentally push through. They’re positive about what they’re doing and what they’re asked to do. They’re bouncing around and not having to be told three or four times. That shows passion on their side, and I’m really pleased with that.”
As for the scrimmage itself Saturday, Burnett said earlier in the week an increased physicality level is what he wanted to see most from the Lions.
“I saw a lot of flying to the football and I saw a lot of people at the ball, tackling the ball carrier,” Burnett said. “Among the bright spots, Chance Jones really playing linebacker for the first time, was extremely physical. Quentin McCarty made some big plays on both sides of the ball. Ike Hall did a good job being calm. We threw some 50-50 balls, and we made every one of those catches, so I’m pleased with the receiving corps. I’m pleased with the quarterback play with Ike and with Chance. Up front we did a pretty good job, we busted some assignments but they’re going to do that early. There’s room to grow and room to fix the mistakes that we made.”
Early on in the battle of starting units, the defense set the tone by forcing a pair of turnovers in the first 10 plays. On the fifth snap, after the offense had moved the ball to the plus-25 yard line, Konlyn Anderson lost the handle and Sam Kallman dove on a loose ball the recover the fumble. Then, on the 10th snap from the plus-48 yard line, McCarty nabbed a Hall screen pass attempt that would have been returned for a touchdown had the play not been whistled dead.
“I thought our defense played fast and I thought they were physical and that’s what I wanted to see,” Burnett said. “When they’re that physical against their own guys I’m hopeful that’ll ramp that up even more when we play an opponent.”
The offense made more strides as the scrimmage went on, with Jake Jetton scoring on a 30-yard screen pass from Jones when the second teams were on the field. Later, Jaylan Brown plowed into the end zone from 5 yards out during a stint in which starters and reserves were mixed and matched on the field.
“Offensively, we did some great things other than the turnovers,” said Burnett, whose team gave away the ball 15 times last season. “The turnovers stopped our drives, so even though our defense did an outstanding job, our offense did a great job other than the turnovers. Those will always stop you and keep you out of the end zone.”
Other offensive highlights included scrambles of 12 and 15 yards by Hall; a pair of Hall to Jason Jackson passes for 30 and 35 yards, respectively; Jordan Leach turned a short pass in a 36-yard catch and run from Hall; Case Markham yanked catches of 25 and 17 yards from each quarterback; and Morsello Hooker made a leaping grab for a 25-yard gain on a toss from Jones.
Defensively, Noah Barron would have added an interception had not an offsides penalty negated the play. Colton McMillan almost came up with another pick for the Lions defense but couldn’t hang on to the pigskin. Finally, on the last four snaps from inside the 4 yard line, the Brownwood defense was able to keep the offense out of the end zone, breaking up a jump ball on the final snap.
On the injury front, only one Lion missed action Saturday and no injuries were sustained.
“Logan Knight, who moved in from California, he’s a big offensive and defensive lineman and he was out with flu like symptoms, so he wasn’t here today,” Burnett said. “Once we get him back, we’ll be going full force.”
The Lions return to practice Monday and conclude their second week of work with a scrimmage against Decatur at Gordon Wood Stadium. The varsity will take the field at 6 p.m. Friday, while the JV and freshman squads will kick off the action at 5 p.m.
“We don’t want to be complacent, we have to really work hard in practice, refine what we’re doing and fix the mistakes that we’ll see from this scrimmage,” Burnett said of the Week 2 practice goals. “We need to keep practicing at a high level and play faster, and how you do that is by gaining knowledge through film and through study, understanding the scheme and coming out and being as physical as you possibly can.”
Brownwood will also scrimmage at Lampasas on Thursday, Aug. 18 before hosting Abilene Wylie in the 2022 season opener at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26 at Gordon Wood Stadium.
