COLLEGE STATION – The Brownwood Lions have enjoyed better days in the past, and will do so again in the future at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex. But Thursday’s start to their 23rd consecutive 7-on-7 Division II state tournament appearance left a sour taste throughout the program.
Placed in the “Pool of Death,” according to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football website, the Lions finished fourth in Pool C with losses to Davenport (33-21), reigning state champion Hitchcock (27-2) and Sunnyvale (35-21).
“There’s nothing you can do about what happened today other than fix it,” said Lions head coach Sammy Burnett, who observed Thursday’s action with the rest of the coaching staff. “You can grow from it and move on. The losses came from us. We didn’t get off the field enough and we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities when we had them offensively.”
Brownwood – which was riding a seven-game win streak in 7-on-7 qualifying action – scored on just 6 of 18 offensive possessions (33 percent) over three games, while the defense yielded touchdowns on 14 of 20 (70 percent) opposing drives.
Quarterback Ike Hall connected on 42 of 72 passes (58 percent) with six touchdowns, three interceptions and five four-second calls – the equivalent of a sack in 7-on-7. Leading receivers included Carson Noe (10 catches, 2 TDs), Morsello Hooker (9 catches, 2 TDs), Jaylan Brown (8 catches), Stone Ratliff (5 catches), Aaron Edmonds (4 catches, 1 TD), Jordyn Nickson (3 catches, 1 TD), and Logan McKibben (3 catches).
Defensively, Nickerson tallied the only two interceptions – both against Hitchcock – as one came on the final play of the first half and the second accounted for the only points on a foiled extra-point attempt.
Regarding the cause of Thursday’s struggles, Burnett said, “A lot of it has to do with play calling offensively and defensively. What they did to our defense the last game, we should have made an adjustment and changed our coverage but that’s not the players’ job, that’s our job as coaches. Same thing on offense when we’re facing third and short we can’t throw intermediate or deep routes and I don’t expect the kids to know that. That’s our job as coaches and that’s the frustrating part about 7-on-7 is not being able to help them if they’re out there struggling. But it comes back to ownership and we have to execute, that’s what the other teams did today. They threw and caught and got off the field when they needed to and we did not.”
In the loss to Davenport, the Lions rallied from early deficits to grab a 21-20 lead on a touchdown pass from Hall to Hooker, along with Brown’s extra-point catch, on the first drive of the second half. Brownwood’s defense then made its only hold of the game, but the Lions couldn’t take advantage as Davenport picked off a pass and regained a 26-21 lead. Brownwood could not find the end zone again on its last drive, scoring on just 3 of 6 possessions, while Davenport added an insurance touchdown on the final snap.
“Everybody that’s here won a tournament and they’re good and they’ll expose you if they have an opportunity,” Burnett said. “We weren’t strong with our eyes defensively and we were watching the quarterback throw the ball and at this level they have guys who can zing it.”
Against Hitchcock, the Lions did not score a touchdown in seven possessions. Despite trailing just 7-0 at halftime, the Brownwood offense never found its rhythm which allowed Davenport to pull away in the second half.
“We had eight receptions in seven possessions and three of those came on the three last plays of the game,” Burnett said. “We started out with five receptions in the first six possessions and you can’t have that and be successful in 7-on-7.”
During the finale against Sunnyvale, the Lions matched touchdowns early as the score was even at 14 following scoring tosses from Hall to Nickerson and Edmonds. But Brownwood failed to score on its next two drives, while Sunnyvale kept piling on the points to open a 28-14 lead.
“We started 12 for 12 passing, then go 0 for 8 and you can’t do that when the other team is executing every single time,” Burnett said.
The Lions, the fourth seed from Pool C, will kick off play in the 32-team state championship bracket against Pool G champion Celina on Field 5B at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex at 8:45 a.m. Friday.
“I want them to come out and execute, do what their taught to do and I want them to come out and play with passion,” Burnett said of Friday’s goals. “I want to see how we bounce back, how resilient we are going to be and what kind of character we are going to show.”
