TUSCOLA – In their final competitions prior to the 7-on-7 Division II state tournament at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex in College Station on June 23-24, the Brownwood Lions played a pair of games Friday at the Big Country qualifier with mixed results.
First, the Lions recorded their first shutout in 7-on-7 action thus summer with a 25-0 triumph over Class 4A Division II Levelland, which is coming off a 1-9 campaign a year ago.
Then, for the second time in as many weeks, the Lions dropped a one-point decision to Jim Ned, 20-19, in game decided in the closing seconds. The Indians also became the first team to reach the 20-point plateau against Brownwood this summer, and just the third foe in 12 games to record three touchdowns.
“I thought we looked tremendous in the first game,” said Lions assistant head coach David Jones, who observed Friday’s action. “A shutout in 7-on-7 is hard to come by, and we scored some points and I was glad to see that. The second game, I told the guys you can look at both sides of the ball. We gave up more points than we have all season long, we had a busted coverage down here in end zone in the first half, but I thought our kids competed at a high level and competed really well. There was no quit in them.”
Brownwood was also slated to play Weatherford Christian Friday morning, which dropped out of the tournament.
The Lions scored on 7 of 14 possessions as quarterback Ike Hall completed 32 of 59 passes with seven touchdowns, no interceptions and only four four-second calls, the equivalent of a sack in 7-on-7. Leading receivers included Case Markham (10 catches, 1 TD), Jordan Leach (8 catches), Jason Jackson (6 catches, 3 TDs), Morsello Hooker (2 catches, 1 TD), Jordyn Nickerson (2 catches, 1 TD), Konlyn Anderson (2 catches), Hayden Noe (1 catch), and Jake Jetton (1 catch).
Defensively, the Lions allowed touchdowns on just 3 of 13 possessions – a 23 percent success rate – with a pair of interceptions in the first game by Jetton and Chance Jones, giving Brownwood 10 picks in 12 state qualifying games.
Against Jim Ned, the Lions rallied from a 14-7 halftime deficit. On the first possession of the second half, Hall connected with Hooker on a scoring toss that closed the gap to 14-13. Following a defensive stand by the Lions, Hall found Markham on a short toss to the end zone to push the Lions in front, 19-14.
But on Jim Ned’s final offensive snap of the game, the Indians pulled down a Hail Mary reception in triple coverage to again thwart the Lions. A week ago, Jim Ned intercepted a Brownwood pass on the last play of regulation and returned it for a touchdown, then converted the extra point for a 14-13 triumph.
“We have to figure out why we’ve lost to Jim Ned twice,” Jones said. “I feel like that’s a team we should have beat twice and we haven’t, so we all need to look in the mirror, starting with coaches, and figure out why, and improve on that and get to this big tournament down in College Station and see what we can do.”
In the opener against Levelland, Jetton and Jones recorded interceptions on the Brownwood defense’s first two trips on the field, while the Lion offense led 13-0 after two drives thanks to a pair of scoring tosses from Hall to Jackson. Leach and Nickerson added trips to the end zone for the Lions in the second half.
The Lions, who posted a 6-6 record in 12 state qualifier games, will continue preparations for the 2022 fall season over the next two weeks before heading to College Station for their 22nd straight 7-on-7 state appearance.
“We’ll keep rolling with our summer conditioning stuff and we work some 7-on-7 into that, but it’s mostly fall football obviously,” Jones said. “These kids have been practicing in the evenings and have put a lot of time and effort into this. I can’t fault their work ethic or their effort. We’re going to continue to work and put the time in and we’ll be fine when we get to College Station.”
