WACO – Having won twice in a five-day stretch, the Brownwood Lions not only clinched their 12th straight playoff berth but jumped into the mix for the District 5-4A Division I championship.
Monday night, however, the Harris Ratings Weekly Class 4A Division I No. 3 Waco La Vega Pirates ended the Lions’ bid for their first league crown since 2010 in a 62-6 decision.
La Vega (7-2, 4-1) finished with 584 yards of total offense – 297 passing and 287 rushing – including 443 yards in the first half alone. During its two-game win streak over Alvarado and Waxahachie Life, the Brownwood (4-5, 2-2) defense had yielded a total of 474 yards. The Lions – who started six sophomores on defense Monday night – did force two Pirate turnovers, but did not convert either into points.
“I didn’t think we tackled very well,” Burnett said. “Against a team like that if you don’t tackle well you’re going to get beat with big plays and that’s what happened. But there’s not a greater way to learn than trial by fire. We had some little failures but we told them to keep positive, not drop their heads and play the next play, and for the most part they did.”
On the offensive end, the Lions mustered just 144 yards – with 132 coming on the ground as sophomore Konlyn Anderson rushed for 130 yards and Brownwood’s lone touchdown on 25 carries. Through the air, Brownwood completed just 2 of 15 passes for 12 yards with a pair of interceptions. In the previous two games, the Lions averaged 47.5 points and 436 yards per outing with a total of one turnover.
“I don’t know the numbers but I thought we moved the ball on the ground but we didn’t throw the ball extremely well,” Burnett said. “A lot of that has to do with the talent level you’re playing. At times we busted some routes we shouldn’t have which hurt our quarterback and it showed. Against a top notch team if you don’t do things you’re asked to do and don’t play technique football you’re going to be exposed and that’s what happened tonight.”
On the injury front, the Lions were already playing without leading rusher Royshad Henderson, leading tackler Khyren Deal, and defensive line stalwart Zach Bond. Against La Vega, leading receiver Jason Jackson left the game with concussion-like symptoms and did not return. Malachi Revada, the team leader in interceptions, suffered a quad injury and did not finish the game, and in the late stages defensive lineman Tyler Tiner appeared to re-aggravate a nagging ankle injury, among the most notable walking wounded on the sidelines.
“We’re really banged up,” Burnett said. “It’s a violent sport and you have to be tough and battle through some pain. There’s a difference between pain and being injured, and we’ll evaluate those guys tomorrow and see what the verdict is.”
The first snap from scrimmage Monday night signaled the type of night the Lions were about to experience. A quick pass from La Vega quarterback Ara Rauls – who has missed most of the season with a broken arm – to Jai’Brian Bouye resulted in a 66-yard touchdown and a 7-0 Pirate lead just 24 seconds into the contest.
The Lions netted a first down on their initial possession before punting back to La Vega, which scored on the second play of its ensuing drive. A 68-yard scamper by Jordan Rogers – who led La Vega with 93 yards on the ground – extended the lead to 14-0 at the 8:53 mark of the first period.
Brownwood then responded with its most impressive drive of the night, a seven-play, 76-yard trek that culminated with a 6-yard touchdown run by Anderson. The Lions completed their only pass for positive yardage on the drive – a 13-yard hook up between Blaize Espinoza and Revada – and Anderson ripped off a 23-yard run to move the ball to the Pirate 27.
“Konlyn is a powerful runner and every time you watch him he runs extremely hard and keeps grinding,” Burnett said. “He was definitely a big positive for us tonight.”
Trailing 14-6 with 5:14 left in the opening period, Brownwood surrendered five more touchdowns before the half as La Vega extended its lead to 49-6 by intermission.
Jar’quae Walton – who finished with 67 yards rushing – scored on carries of 9 and 2 yards, while Rauls connected with Stephon Nickerson on scoring tosses of 72 and 52 yards. Nickerson finished with four catches for 136 yards, while Rauls – who added a 39-yard touchdown pass to Bouye with 17 seconds left before halftime – passed for 271 yards and four scores.
During the third quarter, each team turned the ball over twice. Brandon Holland recovered a fumble for the Lions at the LaVega 23 just 1:47 into the second half. However, Espinoza – aiming for Dane Johnson in the end zone – was picked off by Lamarion Williams for a touchback.
La Vega’s next possession after the interception resulted in Case Markham pouncing on a loose ball for the Lions at the Brownwood 40. Two plays, later, however, La Vega regained possession as Daylon Procter snagged an interception for the Pirates with 4:13 left in the third.
The Pirates turned that take away into points with as Jeremiah Fisher scored on a 3-yard touchdown run with 1 second left in the third quarter.
Leading 56-6 after three, La Vega added a final touchdown on a 2-yard quarterback keeper by Blaine Nickell with 6:47 remaining.
The Lions, meanwhile, managed just one first down and 9 yards of total offense in the second half, with a pair of turnovers. Brownwood was also hampered by a 22-yard loss on a fourth down when a bad snap over the punter’s head allowed La Vega to begin their final scoring drive at the Lion 14.
Despite the final outcome, Burnett gleaned some positives from the Lions’ performance.
“Blaize fought his butt off and showed great leadership out there,” Burnett said. “I thought the offensive line did a pretty good job against a real talented defense that a lot of people have trouble moving the ball on. I thought we moved the ball well on the ground which is always a plus. If they can get rolling in the next couple of weeks and we’re able to be dominant up front and move the ball on the ground we’ll be fine. But tonight was a tough lesson learned.”
As of late Monday night, the Lions’ next outing at Midlothian Heritage – set for 2 p.m. Saturday – was still on the schedule. However, with the seeding now set from District 5-4A Division I – No. 1 Midlothian (8-2, 4-0), No. 2 La Vega (7-2, 4-1), No. 3 Stephenville (5-5, 3-2) and No. 4 Brownwood (4-5, 2-2) – and Heritage still needing to be granted a waiver to play an 11th regular season contest, there is a possibility Saturday’s game might not be played.
Due to Monday’s result, the Lions will face District 6-4A Division I champion Kennedale (7-0-1) in the bi-district round of the playoffs, a rematch of 2018’s opening-round postseason contest.
La Vega 62, Brownwood 6
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Brownwood 6 0 0 0 – 6
La Vega 21 28 7 6 – 62
SCORING SUMMARY
L: Jai’Brian Bouye 66 pass from Ara Rauls III (Pavel Ramirez kick), 11:36, 1st
L: Jordan Rogers 68 run (Ramirez kick), 8:53,1st
B: Konlyn Anderson 6 run (kick blocked), 5:14, 1st
L: Jar’quae Walton 9 run (Ramirez kick), 3:45, 1st
L: Walton 2 run (Ramirez kick), 10:50, 2nd
L: Stephon Nickerson 72 pass from Rauls (Ramirez kick), 8:52, 2nd
L: Nickerson 52 pass from Rauls (Ramirez kick), 2:50, 2nd
L: Bouye 39 pass from Rauls (Ramirez kick), 0:17, 2nd
L: Jeremiah Fisher 3 run (Ramirez kick), 0:01, 3rd
L: Blaine Nickell 2 run (kick failed), 6:27, 4th
TEAM STATS
Bwd LV
First Downs 10 26
Total Offense 144 584
Rushes-Yards 33-132 39-287
Passing Yards 12 297
Comp-Att-Int 2-15-2 11-12-0
Punts 6-36.8 0-0.0
Fumbles Lost 0 2
Penalties-Yards 2-25 8-60
PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: Brownwood – Konlyn Anderson 25-130, TD; Blaize Espinoza 7-24; Team 1-(-22). LaVega – Jordan Rogers 5-93, TD; Jar’quae Walton 11-67, 2 TDs; D’eddrick Brawley 11-61; Jeremiah Fisher 8-60; Blaine Nickell 2-2, TD; Ara Rauls III 1-2; Ronald Kendricks 1-2.
PASSING: Brownwood – Espinoza 2-15-2-12. LaVega – Rauls 9-10-0-271, 4 TDs; Nickell 2-2-0-26.
RECEIVING: Brownwood – Malachi Revada 1-13; Elias Huerta 1-(-1). LaVega – Stephon Nickerson 4-142, 2 TDs; Manny Ruiz 3-24; Jai’Brian Bouye 2-105, 2 TD; Lamarion Williams 1-19; Kendricks 1-7.
