The Brownwood Lions’ dominance of District 2-4A Division I continued Friday night with another lopsided victory, 52-14 over the Lubbock Estacado Matadors in the home finale at Gordon Wood Stadium.
The latest triumph for Brownwood (7-2, 3-0) ensured the Lions of no worse than a share of their first district championship since 2010. With a win at Andrews (5-3, 1-1), next week, the Lions would lock up the title outright and the district’s No. 1 playoff seed.
“We’re sitting well right now,” said Lions fifth-year head coach Sammy Burnett. “We’re 3-0, but there’s a scenario if we get beat by Andrews we’re the No. 2 team so we just have to take care of us and do what we do. We’ve proven once again if we play our game it doesn’t matter what they do, we can be successful. Andrews runs a lot of different formations so we’re going to have to be sharp at what we see. We know we’re going to have to adjust on the fly. Offensively, we think we’re going to be able to move the ball on the ground and we think we’ll be able to throw it in the air from what I’ve seen so far. They’re going to have to stop us, but we’re going to have to find ways to stop them. If it gets in a situation where it’s a close ball game and the points become a factor, our kids will be educated on that cause I’ll let them know what the scenario will be.”
In a potential three-way tie points tiebreaker, the Lions could still secure the league’s No. 1 spot in the postseason with a loss of 7 points or less to Andrews. The reason – Lubbock Estacado’s 42-36 overtime win over Andrews was scored differently than a typical game due it being extended to an extra session. Instead of Estacado being awarded six points for the win and Andrews losing six, Estacado picked up just one point and Andrews lost one because the game went into overtime.
Therefore, heading into the regular season finale Brownwood is at +15 points – the max awarded for a win – Andrews sits at -1 point, and Estacado is now at -14 and out of the mix for the top playoff seed.
A Brownwood victory at Andrews, and the Lions would be the only team to go unscathed through the 2-4A Division I schedule. Through their first three league outings, the Lions have outscored their foes by a combined score of 153-41.
Against Estacado, Brownwood – behind the front line of Slayde Espinoza, Damian Sanchez, Chris Robinson, Roan Aguinaga and Isaac Gray – generated a season-high 502 yards of total offense. Of those yards, 371 came on the ground on 50 carries – both 2022 season-highs for the Lions.
Konlyn Anderson galloped for 160 yards and three touchdowns, quarterback Ike Hall chipped in 147 yards and two scores, and Logan McKibben contributed 44 yards and a trip to the end zone.
Through the air, Hall was 9 of 18 for 131 yards and touchdown to Taylor Bessent, who caught a season-best three passes for 41 yards. Thad Hinds led all Lions with four grabs for 49 yards.
“The wind was blowing and that played a factor,” Burnett said of the 50 runs compared to 18 passes. “We didn’t have to throw the ball but when we did we were pretty effective. Ike made good decisions and there’s definitely a difference on offense when he’s in the game. You can’t just defend Konlyn, you can’t just defend Thad, Jason (Jackson) and Jordan (Leach), you have to defend them all. And with Ike back there as a run threat as well and his smart decision making, I think we’re a better football team.”
Defensively, the Lions yielded 259 yards – 148 on the ground and 111 through the air, and pounced on a fumble to record the game’s lone takeaway. Estacado running back Bobby Ross finished with 144 rushing yards, but 73 of those came on one play – a third quarter touchdown. Leading receiver Devoryea Boyd was limited to three catches for 50 yards as he was blanketed by Brownwood cornerback Morsello Hooker, who broke up six passes. And Matador starting quarterback D.J. Johnson missed the game – the fourth such occurrence for a Brownwood opponent this season.
“That play call that was made was our fault,” Burnett said of the 73-yard touchdown run by Ross. “We brought two guys off the edge and sometimes it’s a chess match and they happened to get us on that one, but that’s the only big play he had. He’s a big back and big gain guy that make can big plays happen real fast. For them to have only one big play was huge because they’re a real talented team with a lot of explosiveness.
“We did a better job on the back end, too, and took away some stuff. We saw some mesh routes that we hadn’t seen and adjusted to those at halftime, and pressured the quarterback and got some sacks as well.”
Leading tacklers included Jake Jetton with 10; Quinten McCarty with nine and one sack; Sam Kallman with eight, one for loss and one sack; Chance Jones and Stevie Ramirez with six each; Jaylan Brown with four and one sack; Brayden Daub, Case Markham, and Davis Le with four tackles each; Tristan Salinas with three; Logan Knight with two and one sack; Hooker, Hayden Deen, and Azariah Dillard with two apiece; and Noah Barron, Jordyn Nickerson; and Bryan Osbourn with one tackle each.
Special teams wise, Junior Martinez booted a 22-yard field goal and converted all seven his extra points, but his most important plays were his two punts of 26 and 43 yards. On each play, the ball was snapped over Martinez’s head, yet he retrieved the ball and managed to get the punts off, pinning Estacado on its 21 and 6 after each play when the Matadors could have potentially turned those miscues into touchdowns for themselves.
“The snap issue, we think we saw it in the game and he’s sticking the nose of the football in the ground and that’s causing him to snap it high,”Burnett said. “He hasn’t done that in forever, it just happened twice tonight. But Junior is just a calm kid. It doesn’t matter if he’s kicking off, kicking a field goal for the game-winner, or a 45-yarder, or getting off a punt, he just stays calm. He doesn’t get flustered and he makes something happen. He’s an outstanding football player and a huge part of our team that probably gets overlooked.”
The Lions needed less than half a quarter to establish a double-digit advantage over Estacado Friday night.
Brownwood received the opening kick and marched 64 yards in just six plays before Hall scored on a 10-yard carry. A 25-yard pass from Hall to Daub on the second snap moved the ball to the Estacado 31, and the Lions continued to press the gas from there.
The first Matador possession was a three-and-out, which led to the first of seven Estacado punts. Brownwood’s second drive lasted only three plays as Anderson’s 22-yard scamper set up a 31-yard Hall to Bessent screen pass that resulted in a 14-0 lead for the Lions at the 6:54 mark of the opening stanza.
The Lions also tallied the first 10 points of the second quarter as at the 8:41 juncture, a seven-play, 67-yard trek came to an end on a 1-yard plunge by Anderson. Hall scrambled for 14 yards on the first play of the drive, then two snaps later Anderson rumbled 39 yards to the Matador 18.
Leading 21-0, the Lions tacked on three more points before halftime as a 13-play. 73-yard, 5:38 drive culminated with a 22-yard Martinez field goal with 2:20 left in the half.
The Matadors closed the gap to 24-7 with 29 seconds left in the second quarter as passes of 29 yards to Cedric Ross and 40 yards to Devoryea Boyd by backup quarterback Javian Fernandez set up Antonio Willis’ 5-yard touchdown reception.
With a chance to build on their end of the first half momentum, the Matadors instead went three and out on the first possession of the second half.
Brownwood answered with a nine-play, 51-yard journey that ended with an Anderson 2-yard touchdown run that boosted the lead to 31-7 at 8:07 of the third period. A 20-yard pass from Hall to Hinds on third-and-8 at the Estacado 46 ignited the march.
The Matadors answered with Ross’ 73-yard touchdown, as he had been limited to 16 yards rushing on his first 10 carries of the game.
With the lead trimmed to 31-14, the Lions offense went back to work again and, after a 13-yard punt into the wind, needed just six plays to move 26 yards for another Anderson 2-yard touchdown run and a 38-14 lead with 25 seconds left in third period.
The Lions added two more touchdown runs in the fourth quarter as McKibben scored on a 32-yard scamper with 7:41 left to put the finishing touches on a 91-yard drive, then Hall found the end zone again with 2:44 to go, capping a 37-yard trek that started after Robert Trowbridge, a call up from the JV this week, recovered an Estacado fumble – the lone turnover of the game.
“I was proud our kids for playing four quarters,” Burnett said. “No. 1, I was proud of our special teams and thought they did a good job. Offensively, our line did a great job because Estacado did a lot of stuff to us but they picked it up for the most part and kept us in front of the chains. And defensively, Estacado came out in a couple of sets that we hadn’t seen and but we adjusted really well.”
***
Lions 52, Estacado 14
SCORE BY QUARTERS
| Estacado | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | – 14 |
| Brownwood | 14 | 10 | 14 | 14 | – 52 |
***
SCORING SUMMARY
B: Ike Hall 10 run (Junior Martinez kick), 8:52, 1st
B: Taylor Bessent 31 pass from Hall (Martinez kick), 6:54, 1st
B: Konlyn Anderson 1 run (Martinez kick), 8:41, 2nd
B: Martinez 22 FG, 2:20, 2nd
E: Antonio Willis 5 pass from Javian Fernandez (Joseph Mata kick), 0:29, 2nd
B: Anderson 2 run (Martinez kick), 8:07, 3rd
E: Bobby Ross 73 run (Mata kick), 7:05, 3rd
B: Anderson 2 run (Martinez kick), 0:25, 3rd
B: Logan McKibben 32 run (Martinez kick), 7:41, 4th
B: Hall 20 run (Martinez kick), 2:44, 4th
***
| TEAM STATS | E | B |
| First Downs | 11 | 28 |
| Total Offense | 259 | 502 |
| Rushes-Yards | 26-148 | 50-371 |
| Passing Yards | 111 | 131 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 8-15-0 | 9-18-0 |
| Fumbles Lost | 1 | 0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 7-75 | 6-80 |
| Punts-Average | 7-32.0 | 2-34.5 |
***
PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: Estacado – Bobby Ross 22-144, TD; Javian Fernandez 4-4. Brownwood – Konlyn Anderson 29-160, 3 TDs; Ike Hall 15-147, 2 TDs; Logan McKibben 3-44, TD; Jaylan Brown 3-20.
PASSING: Estacado – Fernandez 8-15-0-111, TD. Brownwood – Hall 9-18-0-131, TD.
RECEIVING: Estacado – Devoryea Boyd 3-50; Antonio Willis 2-15, TD; Cedric Ross 1-29; Dee’Cedric Green 1-12; Ross 1-5. Brownwood – Thad Hinds 4-49; Taylor Bessent 3-41, TD; Brayden Daub 1-25; Jason Jackson 1-16.
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KICKING – Brownwood – Junior Martinez 1 of 1 FGs, long of 22.
7 of 7 PATs.
2 punts, 69 yards, 34.5 average.
