STEPHENVILLE – Brownwood marched 82 yards in nine plays, opening the 81st Battle of 377 with a touchdown. From that point on, the Stephenville Yellow Jackets displayed why they are ranked No. 2 in the state as they handed the playoff-bound Lions a 63-7 defeat.
Despite the loss, Brownwood (4-6, 2-3) is headed to the playoffs to face District 6 champion Kennedale (9-1, 7-0) next weekend.
“We’ve got to work and we’ve got to grind,” Brownwood fourth-year head coach Sammy Burnett said of lessons the Lions can take forward with them as they prepare for the postseason. “We can’t expect to continue to do what we’re doing and be OK. We have to go to work everyday and we have to get better, and that’s life. We just have to grind and take control of our future and not let someone else dictate what we do.”
The District 5-4A Division I champion Yellow Jackets (10-0, 5-0) scored on their first nine possessions, including all eight in the first half where Stephenville – which recorded four one-play scoring drives in the first two quarters – compiled 493 of its 633 yards of total offense on the night.
Quarterback Ryder Lambert completed 13 of 17 passes for 376 yards with six touchdowns – including 328 yards and five scoring tosses in the first half alone – while also rushing for 53 yards and two scores.
Reece Elston grabbed six receptions for 159 yards with three trips to the end zone, and Coy Eakin hauled in four catches for 148 yards and two scores while also rushing for a team-high 73 yards and a touchdown. The Yellow Jackets finished with 251 yards on the ground to go along with 382 through the air.
“They’re a powerful football team and have everything they need right now to make a long run and I expect that they’ll do that,” Burnett said. “They have a good quarterback and great receivers with strength and speed and they’re big up front. I tip my hat to them because they whipped us tonight.”
The 63 points scored by Stephenville, which put up its final points just 1:46 in the second half, served as the second-most points produced by a winning team in the history of the series, trailing only the Yellow Jackets’ 66-point effort in a 2011 shutout.
Meanwhile, the Lions – who still lead the series all-time 47-32-2 – were held to season-low outputs in both points and total yards at 235. Brownwood mustered 153 yards on the ground and 82 through the air, but coughed up the ball a season-high four times.
“We moved the ball great the first drive, the second and third drive I thought we moved the ball well, too, but we had a couple of penalties on third-and-short that stopped drives and we have to quit doing that,” Burnett said. “We’ve proven to ourselves we can move the ball on anybody when we do things right, we’ve just got to quit stepping on our own feet, grow up and be able to play against big teams like this.”
On the initial drive of the contest, quarterback Chance Jones completed an 11-yard pass to Elias Huerta-Doud on third-and-9 from the Brownwood 30, then hooked up with Jason Jackson for a 27-yard gain down the Stephenville 24. Two plays later, Jones found Jackson in the end zone from 18 yards out to give the Lions a 7-0 lead at the 9:13 mark of the first period. But 2:14 later, the advantage had vanished.
The Lions were unable to light up the scoreboard again despite a 103-yard rushing effort from Konlyn Anderson, and 82 yards through the air and 38 on the ground from Jones. Jackson led the Lions with three grabs for 50 yards and the lone touchdown.
Stephenville’s first touchdown was a 1-yard plunge by Lambert, capping an eight-play, 73-yard trek. The Yellow Jackets then crossed the goal line twice more before the opening quarter ended on scoring receptions of 20 and 81 yards by Elston.
Brownwood yielded five touchdowns in the second period as Stephenville scored on an 11-yard Lambert run, a 7-yard Elston catch, a 51-yard Eakin gallop on a reverse, and touchdown tosses of 85 and 34 yards to Eakin.
Leading 56-7 at halftime, Stephenville tallied the final points with 10:14 left in the third quarter on a 34-yard pass from Lambert to Kyle Ward.
Next for the Lions is Kennedale – a 63-0 winner over Benbrook Friday night – at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12 in Glen Rose in bi-district playoff action. Kennedale’s lone loss came to Midlothian Heritage, 22-7, on Sept 3.
“Like I just told the players, we have an opportunity to finish this season well and it starts with a win next week,” Burnett said. “I firmly believe we can do that, we just have to put it together and believe as a team. As a coach we can preach all we want, but when we get on the field we have to execute and we have to do what we’re taught to do. If we do that, we have the ability to be successful. If we don’t, we’ll get beat just like we did tonight.”
***
Stephenville 63, Brownwood 7
SCORE BY QUARTERS
| Brownwood | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -7 |
| Stephenville | 21 | 35 | 7 | 0 | -63 |
SCORING SUMMARY
B: Jason Jackson 18 pass from Chance Jones (Junior Martinez kick), 9:13, 1st
S: Ryder Lambert 1 run (Corbin Poston kick), 6:59, 1st
S: Reece Elston 20 pass from Lambert (Poston kick), 3:46, 1st
S: Elston 81 pass from Lambert (Poston kick), 1:06, 1st
S: Lambert 11 run (Poston kick), 10:15, 2nd
S: Elston 7 pass from Lambert (Poston kick), 7:16, 2nd
S: Coy Eakin 51 run (Poston kick), 5:46, 2nd
S: Eakin 85 pass from Lambert (Poston kick), 1:56, 2nd
S: Eakin 34 pass from Lambert (Poston kick), 1:27, 2nd
S: Kyle Ward 34 pass from Lambert (Poston kick), 10:13, 3rd
***
| TEAM STATS | B | S |
| First Downs | 12 | 25 |
| Total Offense | 235 | 633 |
| Rushes-Yards | 48-153 | 33-251 |
| Passing Yards | 82 | 382 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 7-18-1 | 16-21-0 |
| Punts | 7-35.5 | 3-31.3 |
| Fumbles Lost | 3 | 1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 3-15 | 3-25 |
***
PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: Brownwood – Konlyn Anderson 32-103; Chance Jones 13-38; Jaylan Brown 3-12. Stephenville – Coy Eakin 3-73, TD; Julian Iribarren 13-58; Ryder Lambert 6-53, 2 TDs; Tate Maruska 4-30; Malachi Arredondo 6-29; Ruben Reyes 1-11; Hyson Foreman 1-6; Zack Villarreal 2-1.
PASSING: Brownwood – Jones 7-18-1-82, TD. Stephenville – Lambert 13-17-0-376, 6 TDs; Foreman 3-4-0-6.
RECEIVING: Brownwood – .Jason Jackson 3-50, TD; Thad Hinds 1-19; Elias Huerta-Doud 1-11; Anderson 1-(-1). Stephenville – Reece Elston 6-159, 3 TDs; Eakin 4-148, 2 TDs; Kallan Kimbrough 2-26; Kyle Ward 1-34, TD; Foreman 1-4; Iribarren 1-(-3).
