VIDEO: Konlyn Anderson (2), who finished with 230 yards rushing, scores one of his five touchdowns against Alvarado.
ALVARADO – Needing to win two of their final three games to reach the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season, the Brownwood Lions cleared their initial hurdle Friday night with a 56-35 road victory over the Alvarado Indians.
“That’s a good football team, we’re very comparable and I knew it was going to be a knock down drag out,” said Lions fourth-year head coach Sammy Burnett. “I kept challenging the kids to find a way to get off the field and our kids did that. I challenged our offense to continue to put points on the board and we’d slowly pull away from them and we did that. For our kids to come out with the win is huge for us and it still gives us an opportunity to have hopes of being in the playoffs. If we can continue to grind, if our kids continue to work hard and continue believing in each other we can get over the top and maybe do some things like get to the playoffs and go a round or two. That would be huge for this team.”
The Lions (3-5, 1-2) overcame 492 yards surrendered, including 351 rushing, by forcing three Alvarado (2-6, 1-2) turnovers which resulted in a trio of Brownwood touchdowns.
“Defensively we gave up two big plays early and found a way to counter balance that by getting two big turnovers and we capitalized on those,” Burnett said.
Meanwhile, the Lion offense – behind the play of linemen Ethan Pesina, Brandon Still, Slayde Espinoza, Damian Sanchez and Roan Aguinaga – did not cough up the ball at any point Friday and finished with 423 yards of total offense, led by 230 yards and five touchdowns on the ground from Konlyn Anderson. Quarterback Chance Jones chipped in an 8-of-10, 113-yard passing effort with two touchdowns as well as 71 yards and another score on the ground.
“I was proud of our offense,” Burnett said. “Our MO was we needed to score on every drive and we only punted once.”
Trailing 14-7 after giving up a 63-yard touchdown run to fullback Kevin Brown, which came on the heels of back-to-back runs of 35 and 19 yards by Jayden Bridgewater to set up the Indians’ first score, the Lions were forced to punt the ball away for the only time at the 3:06 mark of the first period.
Needing to desperately recapture the momentum, the Lions shifted the impetus back to their side when Brandon Holland pounced on a fumble by Bridgewater at the Alvarado 16. Three plays later, Anderson – who tallied the Lions’ first touchdown an 8-yard carry at the 5:42 mark of the first period – was back in the end zone for the second time from 6 yards out, knotting the score at 14 with 2:12 left in the opening stanza.
“Konlyn just ate them up and we felt like he was going to have a big night,” Burnett said. “He was a bully tonight and he just kept pounding and pounding.”
Brownwood then forced Alvarado’s lone punt on the ensuing possession, and the Lions took over at their own 20 after a touchback. A 13-play, 80-yard drive followed as the Lions seized the lead and never looked back thanks to a 1-yard plunge by Jones that made the score 21-14 with 7:23 left in the half. Brownwood was also aided by a pair of personal foul calls against Alvarado on the drive, which netted two first downs and 26 penalty yards.
Just two snaps after the Lions’ go-ahead touchdown, Alvarado put the ball on the turf again, this time with Quentin Thompson recovering the fumble for Brownwood at the Indian 28. Three plays later, following a 22-yard spurt by Anderson, a 2-yard Anderson dive pushed the cushion to 28-14 at the 5:52 mark of the first half.
Alvarado closed the deficit to 28-21 by halftime, thanks to a 1-yard run by Bridgewater – who amassed 266 yards on 38 carries – with 61 seconds left in the second period.
The Lions made sure to keep a stranglehold on the momentum as the initial drive of the second half ended with a 41-yard touchdown run by Anderson, a play in which he broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage, reversed field, and out ran the Indian defense to the end zone. The extra point by Junior Martinez, one of his eight on the night, made the score 35-21 just 63 seconds into the third quarter.
The teams continued to trade touchdowns as a 23-yard toss from West Conner to Blake Bledsoe allowed Alvarado to close the gap to 35-28 at the 6:26 mark, but the Lions answered with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Case Markham – who got behind the Indian defense on a third-and-20 following a holding call – to stretch the lead to 42-28 at the 3:10 juncture of the third.
Alvarado’s final touchdown came with 7:39 left on an 11-yard pass from West to Oliver Monrose, but once more Brownwood had an answer. Facing a fourth-and-10 situation at the Alvarado 29, and the prospect of the Indians potentially taking over with a chance to march the field for a tying touchdown, the Lions instead found the end zone as Jones connected with Thad Hinds on a post pattern to extend to lead to 49-35 with 3:16 to go.
“The fourth-and-10, we call a post route and there was pressure but Chance stepped up in the pocket and delivered the ball to Thad, who went up and high-pointed it and made a big play,” Burnett said. “If Thad waits on the ball the defender makes a play, but he doesn’t allow that to happen and that’s a big touchdown that pretty much sealed the game for us.”
The Lions added one final touchdown with 1:11 remaining, set up by Brownwood’s third takeaway on a Jason Jackson interception returned to the Indian 27. Anderson found the end zone on a 20-yard gallop three plays later.
Jackson, the Lions’ leading receiver, was limited to one catch for 5 yards, but Elias Huerta-Doud stepped up with a team-high four grabs for 36 yards, Markham finished with two receptions for 43 yards, and Hinds pulled in a touchdown catch as well.
“I told Jason they were going to put two on him and I knew they would,” Burnett said. “I knew they thought he was our best football player. We knew Elias would have a big night with the way their defense could play, and I knew Thad and Case could have a big night. JJ has done a good job of not being selfish, knowing he’s going to get his opportunities and when he does he takes advantage of those.”
Next week, the Lions host Waxahachie Life (1-7, 0-3) – which dropped a 49-6 decision to Stephenville (7-0, 2-0) Friday night – in the final home game of the season. With a victory, Brownwood would ensure no worse than a fourth-place district finish and a playoff berth.
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Brownwood 56, Alvarado 35
SCORE BY QUARTERS
| Brownwood | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | -56 |
| Alvarado | 14 | 7 | 7 | 7 | -35 |
SCORING SUMMARY
A: Jayden Bridgewater 5 run (Dylan Cox kick), 8:18, 1st, 0-7
B: Konlyn Anderson 8 run (Junior Martinez kick), 5:42, 1st, 7-7
A: Kevin Brown 63 run (Cox kick), 4:46, 1st, 7-14
B: Anderson 6 run (Martinez kick), 2:12, 1st, 14-14
B: Chance Jones 1 run (Martinez kick), 7:23, 2nd, 21-14
B: Anderson 2 run (Martinez kick), 5:52, 2nd, 28-14
A: Bridgewater 1 run (Cox kick), 1:01, 2nd, 28-21
B: Anderson 41 run (Martinez kick), 10:57, 3rd, 35-21
A: Blake Bledsoe 23 pass from West Conner (Cox kick), 6:26, 3rd, 35-28
B: Case Markham 40 pass from Jones (Martinez kick) 3:10, 3rd, 42-28
A: Oliver Monrose 11 pass from Connor (Cox kick), 7:39, 4th, 42-35
B: Thad Hinds 29 pass from Jones (Martinez kick), 3:16, 4th, 49-35
B: Anderson 20 run (Martinez kick), 1:11, 4th, 56-35
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| TEAM STATS | B | A |
| First Downs | 25 | 26 |
| Total Offense | 423 | 492 |
| Rushes-Yards | 47-310 | 47-351 |
| Passing Yards | 113 | 141 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 8-10-0 | 9-17-1 |
| Punts | 1-34.0 | 1-36.0 |
| Fumbles Lost | 0 | 2 |
| Penalties-Yards | 8-75 | 5-61 |
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PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: Brownwood – Konlyn Anderson 34-230, 5 TDs; Chance Jones 11-71, TD; Jaylan Brown 2-9. Alvarado – Jayden Bridgewater 38-266, 2 TDs; Kevin Brown 3-73, TD; Kameron Webb 4-16; Josiah Ponce 1-4; West Conner 1-(-8).
PASSING: Brownwood – Jones 8-10-0-113, 2 TDs. Alvarado – Conner 9-17-1-141, 2 TDs.
RECEIVING: Brownwood – Elias Huerta-Doud 4-36; Case Markham 2-43, TD; Thad Hinds 1-29, TD; Jason Jackson 1-5. Alvarado – Logan McDaniel 3-32; Blake Bledsoe 2-44, TD; Harrison Jean 2-22; Calvin Ford 1-14; Oliver Monrose 1-11, TD.
