In a game that lived up to the hype that surrounded it all week, the Class 4A Division I No. 7 Brownwood Lions again found a way to win and keep their unblemished record intact.
The Lions built a 10-point second-half advantage, only to witness the Class 4A Division II No. 10 Waco Connally Cadets storm back to take their first lead early in the fourth quarter. Brownwood responded with the go-ahead scoring drive midway through the final period, reaching the end zone on a fourth-and-goal play, then the Lions defense kept Connally off the scoreboard during its final two possessions to emerge with a 31-28 victory Friday night at Gordon Wood Stadium.
“It was a dogfight and our kids don’t know surrender and they don’t know quit and we found a way to get it done,” said Lions sixth-year head coach Sammy Burnett. “Our kids are just resilient, they always believe they can get it done and they rise up in the big moments and they do.”
Trailing for the first time in the contest, 28-24, with 11:11 to go following a 43-yard touchdown run by Connally (3-2) speedster Kiefer Sibley on a fourth-and-3 play, the Lions offense went back to work and methodically marched 75 yards in 14 plays.
Facing a fourth-and-goal from the Connally 6 after a 3-yard loss on the previous snap, quarterback Ike Hall – who finished with 135 yards and four touchdowns on the ground – kept the ball on a zone read play and barreled into the end zone to cap a 5:56 drive that pushed Brownwood back in front, 31-28, with 5:15 to go.
“We weren’t going to kick a field goal and hope we stopped them,” Burnett said. “We went for it and ran a read play where we had two options. We put it in the hands of our dude, let him make a read and see what happens, and he made a big play and scored. You have to trust them to do their job and they come through every time, they’re just winners.”
Connally’s ensuing drive reached the Cadet 47, where a fourth-and-1 play with just under three minutes left turned into a fourth-and-6 after a false start – one of 11 penalties for 105 yards by Connally. Opting to still attempt to gain the first down, Sibley was brought down after a 3-yard gain, turning possession over to the Lions with 2:20 left.
Brownwood was unable to run out the clock, but didn’t give the ball back to Connally until 25 seconds remained after a 42-yard Junior Martinez punt pinned the Cadets at their own 4 yard line.
As it turns out, the Lions needed every yard of Martinez’s punt as the Cadets moved 67 yards through the air in just 21 seconds, setting up Bryan Bazaldua for a potential game-tying 46-yard field goal on the last snap of regulation. However, the kick from Bazaldua was low and wide left, as the Lions avoided overtime and stretched their win streak to five games.
Regarding the confidence boost Friday night’s victory provides, Burnett said, “I don’t know that there’s a situation they haven’t been in and haven’t persevered through. They’ve won big, they’ve fought back and held leads, they’ve been behind in games, they’ve been in back and forth games and they just find ways to get it done. It’s a just a testament to how hard they’ve worked, how much they’ve put in and how much they believe in that work paying off. When you prepare for a test and then you go take the test you feel like you’re always going to be successful. That’s why they never doubt themselves.”
Brownwood generated 345 yards of total offense – 260 on the ground and 85 through the air – as Jaylan Brown chipped in a season-high 105 yards rushing while Hall also threw for 85 yards, while Stone Ratliff led the way with two catches for 38 yards. The Lions also finished without a turnover after committing three at Glen Rose last week, which allowed the Tigers to hang around until the closing minutes.
Defensively, the Lions yielded 437 yards – 315 rushing and 122 passing – to Connally’s track team on turf. Though the 437 yards are the most allowed by the Lions this year, the Brownwood defense managed to keep Connally 25 points, 113 total yards and 176 rushing yards below its season averages. Sibley’s 171 yards on the ground fell 101 below his average entering Friday’s game and 56 fewer yards than the 227 the Lions surrendered to the Cadet speedster in last year’s 52-21 victory.
“We would have done an even better job if we stopped them on those two long touchdowns, but that’s how dynamic they are,” Burnett said, referring to Connally touchdown runs of 67 and 43 yards. “But if you take those two plays away, how many yards would they have had? That tells you how well we played. One long run was a fourth down we didn’t fit with the safety, the other was a missed tackle at the line of scrimmage.”
The two long rushing touchdowns accounted for 110 of Connally’s 315 yards on the ground. On the other 45 rushing attempts, the Cadets netted 205 yards, or 4.5 yards per carry on average.
“You have to come to practice with a good mentality everyday,” said Jake Jetton, who finished with a team-high 18 tackles, in regard to preparing for Connally’s explosive ground attack. “You have to lock in, do your thing, and do what you’re told. The coaches know best and go out there and put in the work everyday. The coaches talk to me everyday about fitting the right gaps, making plays. Whatever they tell me to do I’m going to listen and do right by it.”
Brownwood jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter after holding Connally to a three-and-out on its first possession, and a 20-yard punt. Just two plays into the possession, Hall broke loose for a 37-yard touchdown gallop that staked the Lions to a 7-0 lead at 9:35 of the first quarter.
The Cadets responded with a 14-play, 75-yard, 5:19 drive the culminated with a 1-yard plunge by Sibley that knotted the score at 7 with 4:16 left in the opening stanza.
Connally’s next drive ended with five-star recruit Kobe Black, the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Class 4A cover boy, being ejected after an altercation and personal foul that followed a 2-yard loss on a Black carry – one of just two rushes for 15 yards before he exited the contest.
The Lions forged back in front, 14-7, with 9:09 left before halftime as another short punt of 25 yards allowed Brownwood to start its scoring march at the Connally 41. Ten plays later, Hall’s quarterback sneak from the 1 capped the drive.
“We thought they were going to be doing something different, but it was a lot different than what we thought,” Hall said. “So we changed how we were going to work against them and the offensive line started to look good, everybody was working together and I was able to get four touchdowns.”
Again Connally would answer, however, needing just three plays to score as Connally quarterback Jamarion Vincent – who chipped in 129 rushing yards on 14 carries and completed 11 of 12 tosses for 122 yards – wiggled free for a 67-yard scoring sprint that leveled the score at 14 at the 7:56 mark of the second quarter.
Brownwood’s final possession of the first half began at its own 7 with 1:43 left in the half and instead of taking the conservative route, the Lions put their foot on the gas pedal. Hall completed passes of 17 yards to Wyatt Wolf, 14 yards to Aaron Edmonds and 5 yards to Carson Noe as Brownwood marched its way to the Connally 21 with just three seconds left in the half. There, Martinez – who booted three field goals a week ago, including a school record-tying 52-yarder – drilled a 38-yard field goal that pushed the Lions back in front, 17-14, at halftime.
“That was huge because they thought we were going to take a knee or run the clock out and we decided to be aggressive and get in tempo and we started laying on them and went down the field and got ourselves set up to either get six or kick a field goal and they managed it perfectly,” Burnett said. “The difference in the ball game is the field goal right before the half by Junior Martinez. I can’t explain to people how valuable he is to our team. He kicked the ball into the end zone every time we scored and didn’t allow them to return the ball with their dynamic returners,and that was something special.”
Having scored on the final possession of the first half, the Lions opened the second half with the ball and traveled 52 yards in eight plays before Hall found the end zone again on a 5-yard carry that increased the Lions’ edge to 24-14 just 2:57 into the second half.
Connally answered with touchdowns on its next two drives – runs of 1 and 43 yards by Sibley – with Brownwood’s possession sandwiched between stalling at the Cadet 41. But when the Lions needed the offense to come through the most, Brownwood once again found a way.
“I’ve been preparing myself to play on both sides of the ball, and I thought tonight the offensive line had a great game,” said Quinten McCarty, who started on both the offensive and defensive lines and played the majority of snaps. “Defensively, we had some moments but on the offensive line I feel like it’s one of the best games we’ve had. We were locked in this week, had really great practices and it showed today.”
Next week, the Lions wrap up their pre-district slate with the annual ‘Battle of 377’ showdown with Stephenville (3-2) – which is coming off a 21-20 win over 5A Division II Wichita Falls Rider – at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Gordon Wood Stadium.
“They’re a good football team, state-ranked for a reason and they’re always going to play well,” Burnett said. “It’s going to be a packed house, we have to bring our ‘A’ game and just do what we do. It’s not about the opponent, it’s about us, how we’re going to play and how we’re going to rise to the occasion. If we do what we do, we’ll be fine.”
***
Lions 31, Connally 28
SCORE BY QUARTERS
| Connally | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | – 28 |
| Brownwood | 7 | 10 | 7 | 7 | – 31 |
***
SCORING SUMMARY
B: Ike Hall 37 run (Junior Martinez kick), 8:35, 1st
C: Kiefer Sibley 1 run (Bryan Bazaldua kick), 4:16, 1st
B: Hall 1 run (Martinez kick), 9:09, 2nd
C: Jamarion Vincent 67 run (Bazaldua kick), 7:56, 2nd
B: Martinez 38 FG, 0:00, 2nd
B: Hall 5 run (Martinez kick), 9:03, 3rd
C: Sibley 1 run (Bazaldua kick), 4:56, 3rd
C: Sibley 43 run (Bazaldua kick) 11:11, 4th
B: Hall 6 run (Martinez kick), 5:15, 4th
***
| TEAM STATS | C | B |
| First Downs | 21 | 23 |
| Total Offense | 437 | 345 |
| Rushes-Yards | 47-315 | 48-260 |
| Passing Yards | 122 | 85 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 11-12-0 | 6-17-0 |
| Fumbles Lost | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 11-105 | 7-79 |
| Punts-Average | 3-27.3 | 4-35.5 |
***
PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: C – Kiefer Sibley 31-171, 3 TDs; Jamarion Vincent 14-129, TD; Kobe Black 2-15. B – Ike Hall 24-135, 4 TDs; Jaylan Brown 18-105, TD; Levi Pearson 6-20.
PASSING: C – Vincent 11-12-0-122. B – Hall 6-17-0-85.
RECEIVING: C – Sibley 4-50; Ke’Are Riley 3-55; Jylon Nobles 3-17. B – Stone Ratliff 2-38, Wyatt Wolf 1-17, Aaron Edmonds 1-14, Brown 1-11, Carson Noe 1-5.
KICKING: B – Junior Martinez 4 of 4 PATs. 1 of 1 FG, 38 yards.
4 punts, 142 yards, 35.5 average, 1 inside the 5.
