The Brownwood Lions scrimmaged the Godley Wildcats Thursday night at Gordon Wood Stadium.
After running 40 plays in a controlled scrimmage, both teams scored once and both coughed up the ball once – the Lions outscored Godley, 20-7, in a live half, tallying the final three touchdowns of the night.
“All in all I think we grew from the start of the scrimmage to the end and we persevered late in the scrimmage which is good for us,” Burnett said. “I was proud of the way we finished, but wasn’t pleased with the way we started.
In the live quarters, Godley moved the ball 59 yards in nine plays on its first possession, converting an 11-yard scoring toss to a take a 7-0 lead with 8:24 left in the opening period.
Case Markham picked off a pass for the Lions during the controlled portion of the scrimmage, while Kris Hobbs recorded a sack during the live half, and Zach Bond took down the quarterback on the final play of the controlled scrimmage. The Lions also tallied three tackles for loss during the live half.
On the offensive end, the Lions’ touchdown in the controlled scrimmage came the second unit as Trevor Evans scored on a 4-yard carry. The first-team offense advanced no further than midfield in its 10 snaps, with one being a Baylor Tidwell pass that was intercepted.
In the two live quarters, the Lions fumbled the ball away on their first possession as Royshad Henderson was stripped at the Godley 41, which led the Wildcats’ touchdown drive.
Brownwood’s next drive reached the Godley 14 but stalled on downs after an errant fourth-and-2 slant pass.
The Lions’ defense forced a three-and-out, which allowed the offense to take over at the Godley 43. Six plays later, aided by a pass interference penalty call on a fade to Khyren Deal, Tidwell scored on a 6-yard quarterback keeper. Noah Barron’s PAT attempt deflected off the cross bar, leaving the Lions in a 7-6 hole at the 2:15 mark of the first period.
The next three combined drives yielded no points, then Brownwood took over at its own 39 with 9:02 remaining. On the second play of the possession, Tidwell connected with Jason Jackson on a fly route, who adjusted to the ball in mid-air, then juked away from A Godley defender for a 58-yard touchdown that pushed the Lions in front 13-7.
Godley used a 42-yard pass on its next drive to move to the Brownwood 22, but there a Hobbs sack and a couple of offensive penalties ended the march.
The Lions took over at their own 4 and traveled 96 yards in just eight plays, as Chance Jones took a quarterback keeper 56 yards to start the possession. Henderson carried the ball the next seven snaps, reeling off runs of 22 and 13 yards before scoring from a yard out with 3:38 to go.
The Lions, ranked No. 15 in Class 4A Division I by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine, visit the third-ranked Lampasas Badgers at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28 in the regular season opener.