***
The goal of the regular season was realized in Friday night’s home finale at Gordon Wood Stadium, as the Brownwood Lions collected their second consecutive outright District 2-4A Division I championship with a 28-14 triumph over the Andrews Mustangs.
But nothing about the victory was simple – from an hour lightning delay before the game started, to a driving rain throughout most of the first half, to Andrews’ successful keep-away tactics on offense.
“They’re not easy, nothing’s ever easy,” said Lions sixth-year head coach Sammy Burnett of the district championship victory. “It was a night of struggle, poor weather, we had some mistakes, but they just persevered, never lost focus, never lost faith and found a way to get a win.”
The Lions (9-1, 4-0), who will be making their 15th consecutive postseason appearance and 50th overall in program history, snapped the ball just 32 times Friday night, compared to 60 offensive plays for Andrews (4-5, 1-2).
The Mustangs also outgained Brownwood 350-312 in total yardage, with all of Andrews’ production coming on the ground as it failed to complete any of its seven pass attempts.
Sam Kallman and Stevie Ramirez led the Lions with 19 tackles apiece, Noah Gonzalez and Zakk Zabecki both finished with 13 tackles and Quinten McCarty was in on 11 tackles.
“They scored 14 points and it may have looked like we weren’t doing what we needed to do, but defensively we did what we were supposed to do – bend but don’t break,” Burnett said. “I give them credit, they had two weeks to prepare for us and they hurt us a couple of times, but we made some adjustments that helped.”
Behind the offensive front of McCarty, Cole Miller, Davis Le, Aidan Packheiser and Logan Knight, the Lion offense rushed for 290 of its 312 yards – averaging 10.3 yards per carry on 28 totes. Quarterback Ike Hall finished with a pair of touchdowns and 181 rushing yards on 13 carries, while Levi Pearson chipped in 106 yards and two scores on 14 rushes.
“It all starts up front,” Burnett said. “They had nine in the box and we knew it and didn’t care. We were still going to impose our will and move the ball on the ground because of the weather. The offensive line did a phenomenal job and Levi and Ike carried the ball extremely well.”
The Lions scored on their first two possessions and led 14-0 with 3:25 left in the first period, but the skies soon opened up and the momentum of the game gradually changed.
On their first possession, however, the Lions needed just four plays to travel 58 yards as Pearson scored on a 16-yard carry for a 7-0 lead just 1:17 into the contest.
Andrews managed a total of 6 yards on its first two possessions, and after the second a Jordyn Nickerson punt return set up Brownwood at the Mustang 44. Four plays later, the Lions were back in the end zone on a 33-yard scamper by Hall for a 14-0 lead after Junior Martinez’s PAT.
From 3:25 of the first period – the time of the Lions’ second touchdown – to the 3:42 juncture of the third – almost two full quarters – Brownwood was limited to six offensive snaps while Andrews took 40.
First, an 11-play, 75-yard drive that ended with 9:49 left in the first half culminated with a 39-yard touchdown run by Jaesean DeBouse – who led all rushers with 193 yards – as the Mustangs cut the deficit to 14-6 after a botched two-point try.
Andrews then recovered on onside kick at the Lions 45, but Brownwood answered with an immediate stop on fourth-and-3 from the Lions 38.
A 26-yard pass from Hall to Carson Noe moved the Lions to down to the Andrews 33 on its ensuing possession, but the drive stalled there as a fourth-and-12 pass into the end zone for Aaron Edmonds in a torrential downpour was broken up.
“The problems tonight came on the offensive side when we didn’t take opportunities to punch the ball in when we should have,” Burnett said. “In the first half, during two of our possessions it was pouring down rain which definitely limited what we could do. The ball was getting wet quickly and that’s not an excuse, but just what happened. It happened to us in the playoffs last year, it could happen to us again, but this time we persevered through it, last year we didn’t.”
Andrews controlled the clock the rest of the first half, moving 56 yards in 11 plays. Facing fourth-and-6 from the Lions’ 9 in the closing seconds of the second quarter, a well-designed screen pass that caught Brownwood off guard – as four blockers were alone out in front of Jeremiah Mullen – went for naught as the pass from Aidyn Olivas was dropped.
Clinging to a 14-6 halftime lead, the Lions then witnessed Andrews march 65 yards in 15 plays to start the second half, chewing 8:18 off the clock before the Mustangs failed convert a fourth-and-7 run play from the Brownwood 15.
Ninety yards from the end zone, the Lions needed just eight plays to get into the red zone and appeared on the verge of opening a two-score lead. However, Pearson lost the handle on the ball at the Andrews 6 with 22 seconds left in the third quarter for the game’s only turnover.
The Lions forced a three-and-out and a 23-yard punt return from Nickerson set up Brownwood at the Andrews 24. After losing 4 yards on the first snap, the Lions opened a 21-6 lead on Hall’s 28-yard touchdown run with 11:01 to go.
Andrews fired back with a nine-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown carry by Mullen, closing the gap to 21-14 with 5:47 after Olivas’ two-point run.
The Mustangs then attempted their second onside kick of the game, which Nickerson pounced on for the Lions at the Brownwood 49. Five plays later, with 3:47 left in the contest, Pearson galloped into the end zone for his second touchdown, this one from 28 yards out, which iced the district championship-clinching victory.
For Brownwood, the win secured back-to-back district championships for the first time since the 2009 and 2010 campaigns. The victory also served as the 100th in the career of Burnett, who is 42-25 in six seasons at his alma mater and 100-57 overall.
“I was blessed with a lot of great athletes that want to go do things the right way,” Burnett said of his 100th win. “This has nothing to do with me, it has to do with the athletes I’ve been blessed with to coach over the last 14 years.”
The Lions’ bye falls next week and Brownwood’s Region I-4A Division I bi-district opponent will be determined next week – the fourth seed out of District 1, which at the moment would be San Elizario (2-7, 1-3) after it rallied from 13 down to defeat El Paso Irvin (1-8, 0-3) by a 25-20 count Friday night.
***
Lions 28, Andrews 14
SCORE BY QUARTERS
| Andrews | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 | – 14 |
| Brownwood | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | – 28 |
***
SCORING SUMMARY
B: Levi Pearson 13 run (Junior Martinez kick), 10:43, 1st
B: Ike Hall 33 run (Martinez kick), 3:25, 1st
A: Jaesean DeBouse 39 run (run failed), 9:49, 2nd
B: Hall 28 run (Martinez kick), 11:10, 4th
A: Jeremiah Mullen 15 run (Aidyn Olivas run), 5:47, 4th
B: Pearson 28 run (Martinez kick), 3:47, 4th
***
| TEAM STATS | A | B |
| First Downs | 20 | 13 |
| Total Offense | 350 | 312 |
| Rushes-Yards | 60-350 | 28-290 |
| Passing Yards | 0 | 22 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 0-7-0 | 2-4-0 |
| Fumbles Lost | 0 | 1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 4-20 | 3-15 |
| Punts-Average | 3-40.3 | 1-42.0 |
***
PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: A – Jaesean DeBouse 24-193, TD; Jeremiah Mullen 14-79, TD; Merqucio Ruiz 14-53; Aidyn Olivas 4-18; Leeroy Millan 4-7. B – Ike Hall 13-181, 2 TDs; Levi Pearson 14-106, 2 TDs; Weston Wolf 1-3.
PASSING: A – Olivas 0-7-0-0. B – Hall 2-4-0-22.
RECEIVING: A – No receptions. B – Carson Noe 1-26; Aaron Edmonds 1-(-4).
KICKING: B – Junior Martinez 4 of 4 PATs. 0 of 0 FGs.
1 punts, 42 yards, 42.0 average.
