The Class 4A Division I No. 7 Brownwood Lions wrapped up their first week of preseason work Saturday morning with the annual Maroon-White scrimmage at Gordon Wood Stadium.

Seventh-year Lions head coach Sammy Burnett, who guided Brownwood a 12-2 record and a berth in the Region I championship game last year, gave his impressions of what he saw from the varsity squad.

“This is just what I thought would happen the first scrimmage, our defense is ahead of our offense,” Burnett said. “I like our kids’ effort, I like our chemistry and the fact that when we make a mistake they’re uplifting each other. But I challenged our offense to continue to grow and get better and work and get where we need to be.”

The defense recorded multiple tackles for loss and sacks, Devin Eanes picked off a pass near the sideline, and Levi Pearson recovered a fumble at the sideline after a short catch and run.

“Defensively I thought we did a good job,” Burnett said. “We’re doing a lot of things, a lot of stunting, a lot of different coverages and coverage disguises, so we’re making it difficult on our offense right now, but I think we’re right where we need to be. Our offensive line is always the slowest to develop. We had some mistakes on the snap and busted assignments, but when a defense is doing all that we’re doing, which is a plus for us, it’s more difficult for the offense to pick things up. It always takes time for the big boys to figure it out, but they will.”

Among the offensive highlights, Keedan Brooks scored on a pair of fades – one from 15 yards out from Braeden Stacks and another from 70 yards away from Judson Coalson after the Lions defense jumped early. Grant Gray also hauled in a 20-yard scoring fade from Coalson, who along with Stacks are vying to start at quarterback.

“I saw some good leadership in the huddle from our quarterbacks, and our receivers did a good job running routes,” Burnett said. “When we had time to protect and throw the ball we did a good job. We always know we can throw the fade to the outside guys and I thought we showed that and made some plays with the fade ball, but I want to be more consistent and be able to pound the rock to be able to set up things like that.”

Burnett reported a clean bill of health for the Lions through the first week of work. The second week of preseason practice will conclude Friday with a 6 p.m. scrimmage against head coach Jason Witten’s Argyle Liberty Christian Warriors at Gordon Wood Stadium

Of the goals for the Lions next week, Burnett said, “We’ll go back and watch film, see where had busted assignments and made mistakes on both sides of the ball and fix those things. Then going into the next scrimmage we want to see better execution on both sides of the ball and just gain more confidence day by day.”

Highlights during the sub-varsity portion of Saturday’s Maroon-White scrimmage included:

• Long run to set up short TD run by Nick Rodriguez, who later intercepted a pass on defense
• Cannon Calvert 25-yard TD pass to Durham Brown
• Caden Wilson 70-yard TD run on quarterback keeper
• Rory McNeese 25-yard TD pass to Conner Cornelius, who later intercepted a pass on defense
• McNeese 68-yard scamper down to the 2-yard line
• Hayden Christensen 60-yard touchdown pass to KeShaun White