ABILENE – When it rained Friday night, it poured – literally and figuratively – on the Brownwood Lions.
A perfect storm of missed opportunities, costly turnovers, a key injury and uncharacteristic play on both sides of the ball resulted in the Lions’ 41-19 season-ending loss to the Wichita Falls Coyotes in the Class 4A Division I Region I semifinal at Abilene Christian University.
The Lions (10-3) – who led by 11 points at one point early in the second quarter and had a chance to carry a potential 12-point lead into the halftime locker room – instead led by five at the break and were then outscored 29-2 by Wichita Falls (9-4) in the second half.
As the intensity of the all-day rain increased from light to steady to a torrential downpour as Friday night’s game progressed, so did the Lions’ struggles.
“I said there were three things we had to do to be successful – don’t give up the big play, don’t get behind the chains on penalties and the other was don’t turn the ball over,” said Lions fifth-year head coach Sammy Burnett, who is now 33-24 at his alma mater. “We didn’t do any of that tonight and when you do those things against teams like this, you can’t win ball games. We can blame it on the weather or whatever else, but everybody played in the same conditions and we just didn’t get it done.”
The Lions coughed the ball up four times, including three in the second half; did not complete a pass in the second half after throwing for 128 yards and two scores in the first half; allowed 258 rushing yards, 114 more than their season average per game; and committed eight penalties for 68 yards.
Brownwood ended the night 175 yards and 22 points below its season averages.
Ike Hall completed 7 of 20 passes for 128 yards with two scoring tosses and an interception, and rushed for a team-high 57 yards. Leading rusher Konlyn Anderson, who entered the game with more than 1,500 yards on the ground, finished with just 30 yards on eight totes and left the game in the second quarter with the hip injury, never to return. Thad Hinds led the way with four catches for 52 yards and a touchdown and Jordan Leach hauled in a 52-yard scoring reception.
For Wichita Falls, Cameron Gould rushed for 158 yards and five touchdowns on 30 carries while Eric Powell chipped in 128 yards and a touchdown on 15 rushes. The Coyotes finished with 296 total yards – 29 more than the Lions were allowing on average.
“For them to be able to run the ball like they did on us was surprising to us, but I tip my hat to them,” Burnett said. “We didn’t make plays. We were calling the plays, we knew what was coming, we just didn’t execute. They played better than we did tonight.”
The contest began promisingly enough for the Lions who advanced 63 yards in seven plays on the game’s first drive as Hall connected with Hinds for a 29-yard touchdown to stake Brownwood to a 7-0 lead just 1:52 into the contest.
Wichita Falls then answered with a touchdown on its opening drive as well – a 1-yard by Gould – but missed the extra point as the Lions held a 7-6 lead at the 6:19 mark of the first.
Brownwood’s next drive covered 52 before stalling at the Wichita Falls 11, where Junior Martinez booted a 28-yard field goal on the 13th snap of the drive to boost the Lions’ lead to 10-6 with 1:34 left in the first.
Wichita Falls’ next drive sputtered at the Brownwood 47, where an errant punt snap resulted in a 40-yard loss as the Lions took over at the Coyote 13 with 9:46 left in the half. But the first sign of trouble followed for the Lions on the next play, as Anderson lost the ball and did not return after due to his injury.
“We had a snap go over their head and we wind up turning the ball over right behind that,” Burnett said. “They gave us opportunity and we didn’t take advantage of it. We lost Konlyn early but we still thought we’d be able to run the football. We knew we had to come out here and play at a high level and we just didn’t do it.”
Another quick stop by the Lions resulted in another Coyote punt, and Brownwood wasted no time returning to the end zone on a 52-yard toss from Hall to Jordan Leach, boosting the advantage to 17-6 with 7:14 left in the first half after a one-play scoring drive.
The Coyotes countered with a 10-play, 79-yard scoring drive that saw Powell break free for a 48-yard touchdown scamper with 2:53 left in the first half. A two-point pass was complete short of the goal line, and Brownwood maintained a 17-12 edge.
But just before the half, a dropped pass in the end zone in the driving rain on second-and-8 from the Wichita Falls 24, followed by a missed 36-yard field goal just before intermission kept the Coyotes down by just five – and with possession to start the second half.
‘We didn’t execute and that gave them opportunities, and we didn’t take care of our opportunities,” Burnett said.
As the bottom fell out of the rain clouds during halftime and into the second half, Wichita Falls turned the first possession of the third quarter into a 15-play, 70-yard drive that ate 4:59 off the clock and ended with a 6-yard touchdown run by Gould. Eduardo Robles’ two-point pass from John Ledesma pushed Wichita Falls in front, 20-17, at 7:01 of the third quarter.
The Lions sputtered throughout the second half, but appeared to catch a break when Case Markham returned a punt from the Brownwood 36 inside the Wichita Falls 20 with just under five minutes to go. Instead, the return was negated by an illegal blindside block call and the Lions’ started the drive at their own 31.
But the possession lasted just one play as the Lions coughed up the ball at their own 25 – their second turnover – and five plays later Gould scored from 2 yards out to boost the lead to 26-17 with 2:50 left. Wichita Falls’ extra-point attempt was then blocked and returned the distance for two points by Brownwood’s Jordyn Nickerson, keeping the Lions’ hopes alive down 26-19.
Again the next possession, the Lions gave away the ball on the first snap of the possession as Adyen Ramirez returned an interception to the Brownwood 7. That set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Gould and a two-point plunge by Gould to put the Lions in a 34-19 hole with 2:27 to go.
Brownwood’s next march lasted a mere four plays before losing the ball again, which the Coyotes pounced on at the Lions 16. And with 1:37 to go, Gould scored once more from 3 yards out for the final 22-point margin.
The Lions finished with just their third 10-win season since 2010, and second under Burnett, but 21 seniors will be lost from this year’s squad due to graduation.
“I want to say how proud I am of these kids,” Burnett said. “This senior class had great leadership, great heart and you can tell by looking at these young men on the field right now. Their hearts are broken, but when you invest so much in something it’s hard to give it up. I couldn’t be any more proud of the way they finished and never quit. After 30 years of coaching I think I’ve had as much fun with this team as I’ve had with any and it’s because of their character and how much they’ve grown.
“We’re going to hold our heads high and walk off this field as winners. They’ve made memories they’ll remember for the rest of the their lives, and they’ve built friendships that will stick with them for the rest of their lives. That’s our job as coaches, football is a tool to mold young people and our staff has done a good job of that. Games don’t always turn out the way you want, but I hope these kids are resilient and bounce back and go on to have great senior years, and I hope our younger kids get in the offseason and grow and become the men our seniors have become. We didn’t win the game but I think we’ve got some winners in life and that’s what’s most important.”
The Class 4A Division I Region I championship game will pit Wichita Falls against Decatur (10-3) – a 41-0 victor over Canyon Randall (9-4) in the first regional semifinal game at ACU Friday – at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, at Collins Stadium, Denton.
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Wichita Falls 41, Brownwood 19
SCORE BY QUARTERS
| Wichita Falls | 6 | 6 | 8 | 21 | – 41 |
| Brownwood | 10 | 7 | 0 | 2 | – 19 |
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SCORING SUMMARY
B: Thad Hinds 29 pass from Ike Hall (Junior Martinez kick), 10:08, 1st
W: Cameron Gould 1 run (kick failed), 6:19, 1st
B: Martinez 28 FG, 1:34, 1st
B: Jordan Leach 52 pass from Hall (Martinez kick), 7:14, 2nd
W: Eric Powell 48 run (pass failed), 2:53, 2nd
W: Gould 6 run (Eduardo Robles pass from John Ledesma), 7:01, 3rd
W: Gould 2 run (kick blocked), 2:50, 4th
B: Jordyn Nickerson returned blocked PAT for two points, 2:50, 4th
W: Gould 5 run (Gould run), 2:27, 4th
W: Gould 3 run (Patricio Maldonado kick), 1:37, 4th
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| TEAM STATS | WF | B |
| First Downs | 20 | 10 |
| Total Offense | 296 | 225 |
| Rushes-Yards | 64-258 | 27-97 |
| Passing Yards | 38 | 128 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 6-8-0 | 7-20-1 |
| Fumbles Lost | 0 | 3 |
| Punts-Average | 4-35.0 | 3-42.0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 5-30 | 8-68 |
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PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: Wichita Falls – Cameron Gould 30-158, 5 TDs; Eric Powell 15-128, TD; Jordan Mitchel 5-18; John Ledesma 9-10; Team 5-(-)56. Brownwood – Ike Hall 9-57; Konlyn Anderson 8-30; Jaylan Brown 4-17; Logan McKibben 2-7; Jordan Leach 2-6; Team 2-(-)20.
PASSING: Wichita Falls – Ledesma 6-8-0-38. Brownwood – Hall 7-20-1-128, 2 TDs.
RECEIVING: Wichita Falls – Jae’Den Williams 2-15, Zage Gravitt 2-14, Eduardo Robles 1-6, Powell 1-3. Brownwood – Thad Hinds 4-52, TD; Jordan Leach 1-52, TD, Brayden Daub 1-18; Jason Jackson 1-6.
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KICKING – Brownwood – Junior Martinez 1 of 2 FG, made 28, missed 36
2 of 2 PATs.
3 punts, 126 yards, 42.0 average.
