GRIDIRON GLANCE ’21: Brownwood Lions

August 22, 2021 at 6:41 am Derrick Stuckly

With their two scrimmages in the rear view mirror, the Brownwood Lions have now fully focused their attention on the 2021 regular season and the Aug. 27 opener at Gordon Wood Stadium against the Lampasas Badgers.

Brownwood fourth-year head coach Sammy Burnett, who has comprised a 19-14 record with three playoff appearances during his tenure, on Friday morning shared his thoughts on where the Lions stand heading into the first game of the season, and what needs to improve as the campaign progresses.

Regarding what Burnett felt most optimistic about through two scrimmages, he said, “The progression of our offense and what we’re trying to do – the tempo, the sugar huddle, and we still have a phase we’re working on right now and implementing for Week 1. That’s come along well so I’m excited about the potential of our offense dictating what a defense does.

“The one area of concern I have right now is defense. We still haven’t found our identity, we don’t have people stepping up and making plays. We have to be faster and more physical. We’ll work on that of course, and talking with coaches we already have ideas in mind for things we’re going to have to do to be successful with the type of defensive kids that we have. But as of right now my biggest concern is the physicality of our defense.”

The Lions, coming off a 4-6 campaign in 2020, return just 16 of 56 lettermen including four offensive and six defensive starters. Brownwood averaged 26 points and 292 yards – 152 passing and 140 rushing – a year ago, while giving up 35 points and 375 yards – 246 on the ground and 120 through the air. The Lions also coughed up the ball 26 times while creating 15 turnovers.

The projected starting lineup heading into the Lampasas contest consists of right tackle Damian Sanchez, right guard Alex Reyna, center Ethan Pesina, left guard Brandon Still, and left tackle Slayde Espinoza on offense, along with running back Konlyn Anderson (287 rushing yards, 3 TDs in 2020), quarterback Chance Jones (433 passing yards, 2 TDs), outside receivers Thad Hinds and Jason Jackson (32-668, 9 TDs receiving), and slot receivers Brayden Daub and Elias Huerta-Doud (14-157 receiving).

“Without a doubt our offensive line has gelled quicker,” Burnett said when asked of the strongest offensive group at this point. “After two scrimmages and watching film we still have some mechanics and footwork to fix it, but they’re understanding our schemes and communicating properly and identifying fronts, not busting assignments. The offensive line is the heartbeat of your team and they’re allowing us to be able to move the football on the ground with a running back that’s pretty powerful.”

Defensively, the Lions are expected to send out a unit comprised of ends Zaiden Lopez (23 tackles, 1 for loss, 1.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery) and Christian Chambers (29 tackles, 1 fumble recovery), nose guard Quinten McCarty, inside linebackers Brandon Holland (13 tackles, 1 fumble recovery) and Jaylan Brown, outside linebackers Dryden Anderson (60 tackles, 5 for loss) and Quentin Thompson, cornerbacks Case Markham (10 tackles, 1 for loss) and Noah Barron, and safeties Taylor Bessent (56 tackles) and Jordan Leach (16 tackles).

“We have some key players, but it’s a learning process and I don’t know that we have a strength yet,” Burnett said of the defense. “We’re average in the back end, there’s opportunities to make plays we’re not making. We’re average at linebacker right now, not seeing and reading our keys as well as we should and fitting properly. We’re not technicians right now on the D-line, so we don’t really have anything to lean on right now. We have to find that.”

Along with Lampasas, the Lions will hone their skills for District 5-4A Division I action by visiting Midland Greenwood and China Spring, hosting Burnet and traveling to Abilene Wylie.

“I want to be in ball games and I don’t think there’s any reason why we can’t be in ball games,” Burnett said of the pre-district goals. “I want to stay in ball games early, teams are always pretty powerful in the first and second quarters, but I want to see our kids get stronger as the game goes on and I think our M.O. will be winning games late. Stay in ball games early, score when we can, keep the opponent out of the end zone the best we can, but wear on them, lean on them and weigh on them and wear them out in the third and fourth quarters.”

Brownwood is again expected to finish fourth in the District 5-4A Division I race – according to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football – behind a combination of preseason No. 5 La Vega, No. 10 Midlothian Heritage and No. 18 Stephenville, while beating out Waxahachie Life and Alvarado for the league’s final playoff berth.

Asked his perception of the district and where the Lions rank at this point, Burnett said, “Stephenville has a strong program right now. I talked to a lot of people that feel like they’re the front runner followed by either La Vega or Midlothian Heritage. In everybody’s poll we’re sitting fourth ahead of Waxahachie Life and Alvarado. I know Waxahachie has about 10 to 15 move-ins from DeSoto and Cedar Hill, so I know they could have a change in dynamics and what they’re projected to have. It’s going to be a tough district again and if you’re asking me are we fourth, if I’d be honest right now we’d probably be sitting fourth. But by the time district gets here we can create an identity and get better at what we’re doing and understanding what coaches are asking us to do on both sides of the ball and we may be able to have that machine running at a more efficient rate and be a better football team and surprise some people. We have the ability, we’re just sort of behind mentally in what we’re needing to do.”

The Lions still have plenty of work ahead of them, but that’s to be expected heading into Week 1. While there may be growing pains along the way, Burnett feels the talent is there for the Lions to be contenders in District 5-4A Division I – as long as all the pieces come together.

“They have a lot of potential, but potential’s a scary thing,” Burnett said. “They have a lot of gifts and abilities but they haven’t learned to play together as a team. We’re a young football team honestly, young mentally, we don’t have many seniors out there and the ones that are out there, some of them haven’t had a lot of playing time. We’re just trying to find ourselves, gel together and trust each other and trust the coaches in every decision we make. They’re going to have to play with passion all the time, not just when someone might be getting the ball. You have to play at 100 percent 100 percent of the time. That creates a work ethic that doesn’t waver. We have to learn we have to outgrind people and I say that word a lot but I mean it, we have got to outwork people if want to be victorious. We don’t have huge linemen, we don’t have huge linebackers, we don’t have a lot of big people, we’re a bunch of small guys that get out there and give everything we have. They have the potential and ability to do so, they’re just going to have to have the chemistry and gel as a team.

“The four things Coach (Gordon) Wood always talked about when I was in school was coaches believing in coaches and coaches believing in players, and I tell the kids that’s taken care of, you don’t have to worry about it. But you have to trust each other, believe in each other, buy in to each other, it doesn’t matter who’s beside you, and trust that the coaches are going to put the person out there that’s going to do the job. It’s not your decision to coach, it’s not your job to coach, trust us in everything we tell you to do and everything we tell your teammates to do and go out there and do it with great passion and in a Brownwood way. If they do that, they can reach their potential and be better than they think they can be because right now I know there’s some doubt in their minds in who they are.”

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BROWNWOOD LIONS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Aug. 27 Lampasas

Sept. 3 at Midland Greenwood

Sept. 10 at China Spring

Sept. 17 Burnet (homecoming)

Sept. 24 at Abilene Wylie

Oct. 1 OPEN

Oct. 8 Midlothian Heritage*

Oct. 15 Waco La Vega*

Oct. 22 at Alvarado*

Oct. 29 Waxahachie Life*