MIDLOTHIAN – For the third time in as many weekends, the Brownwood Lions posted a 1-2 mark in 7-on-7 Division II qualifying tournament action.
Brownwood began Saturday at the Midlothian Heritage tournament with a 13-6 loss to Krum, which it defeated by a 22-14 count in Graham two weekends prior. The Lions then rallied from a halftime deficit for a 13-7 victory over District 5-4A Division I rival Waxahachie Life in their second game, before dropping the finale to Waco Connally. 32-22.
“The start was bad in the fact that we didn’t show up when we were supposed to show up and we weren’t prepared to play that first game,” Lions head coach Sammy Burnett, who observed Saturday’s action, said of late arrivals ahead of the first game. “We can’t just walk out on the field and flip a switch and expect to be at top level. I thought we competed the second game. Then in the third game we competed but we had too many dropped balls, too many opportunities that we let go, some busted coverages and if you do that you’re not going to be successful.”
Quarterback Chance Jones completed 42 of 77 passes – 55 percent – with six touchdowns and three interceptions, while being whistled for nine four-second calls, which is the equivalent of a sack in 7-on-7.
Jason Jackson again led the Lions with 13 receptions including two touchdowns, Case Markham added 11 grabs and two scores, Konlyn Anderson hauled in 10 catches and scored once, Elias Huerta finished with five receptions, and Thad Hinds caught three passes and reached the end zone once.
Defensively, Jordan Leach recorded an interception in the opener and Dryden Anderson picked off a pass in the second game.
“In 7-on-7 I feel we need to score every drive or 90 percent of them at least and we weren’t doing that, but I did think our defense kept us in the ball games,” Burnett said. “There’s some bright spots there. But we still have to gel together, we have to have a sense of urgency about what we’re doing. Our talk with the kids when it was over was we can’t preach a win. You have to find a way to come out and get those wins. It’s competitive drive, it’s being prepared, it’s executing the game plan that you’re out there trying to execute. If they can do that, they can be successful.”
In the opener against Krum, the Lions failed to score on a pair of goal-to-goal opportunities in the first half and did not reach the end zone until the final drive of the contest. Hinds leaped over the Krum defense to haul in the scoring toss from Jones.
Against Waxahachie Life, the Lions also failed to score in the first half as an interception at the goal line was returned for a touchdown, putting Brownwood in a 7-0 hole at the break. The Lions drew even at 7 on their first possession of the second half on a touchdown pass from Jones to Jackson, followed by the extra-point catch from Konlyn Anderson. The Lions went up 13-7 on the next drive thanks to a scoring toss from Jones to Markham.
In the finale against Connally, the Lions struck first as a touchdown pass from Jones to Markham, along with the extra point catch from Huerta, staked Brownwood to a 7-0 lead. Connally then responded with the next 26 points. The Lions closed the gap to 26-14 as Konlyn Anderson scored from 45 yards out and Huerta added the extra point. Brownwood’s final touchdown was a reception from Jackson, with a two-point catch from Hinds tacked on to round out the scoring.
Brownwood will next host its own state qualifier Saturday, June 5 as it looks to a clinch a 21st straight appearance in the 7-on-7 state tournament.
In other Lions news Saturday, Brownwood qualified for state in the Lineman Challenge. More information can be found here.
