As the vast majority of high school football teams in Texas prepare for their second game of the season, including Friday night’s opponent, the Class 4A Division I No. 7 Brownwood Lions are gearing up for their season opener after last week’s contest with Abilene Wylie was canceled.

On the docket, the Class 3A Division II No. 9 Wall Hawks await, fresh off a 28-6 victory over Mason, as the Lions head west for their first road contest at 7 p.m. Friday.

“Wall is a worthy opponent, a historic program with a lot of wins, they know how to win and play with great confidence, and we have to show up and do the same,” said Lions seventh-year head coach Sammy Burnett. “For them to have one game of competition that we haven’t had yet, that’s an advantage for them. We still have to find out what we are, but I think we’ll be able to do that on Friday night.”

The week off did aid the Lions in one aspect, as Brownwood could be back to near full strength when they take the field Friday. Weston Wolf is currently questionable, but could be back on the defensive line. If that happens, the Lions will only be missing Aiden Driskill, who broke a bone in his leg during the Argyle Liberty Christian scrimmage.

“If Weston can play that will be big for us,” Burnett said. “He’s a dominant player, a captain, but the jury’s still out and we’ll know Thursday if we have him or not. A positive from not playing last Friday is kids got a little bit more rest and didn’t get beat up, so we’re about as healthy as we’ve been since all those injuries started, which is a big plus.”

In their 22-point victory in Week 1, Wall scored a touchdown in each quarter and gave up only one in the fourth.

The Hawks, who have transitioned to a spread offense this season under new head coach Craig Slaughter, finished with 226 yards of total offense as quarterback Landon York connected on 7 of 18 passes for 148 yards with a pair of touchdowns and one interception. Briggs Jones led all Hawks with three catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns, while Reid Roberson hauled in a 33-yard reception.

On the ground, Hagyn Barbee rushed for 37 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, while Thomas Leanos chipped in 33 yards and scored once on 12 totes.

“They’re pretty advanced for being their first year in the spread,” Burnett said. “They’ve got some great passing concepts, some good run game schemes, and do a great job with their screens. They’re led by Briggs Jones, he’s a fast kid they put in multiple positions to get him the ball. He scored two touchdowns last week against Mason, which is another historic program that’s used to winning. Their quarterback, Landon York, threw the ball well, delivers the ball well, and they have some speed. Their offensive line looks good up front, and Wall is always good up front with the offense they ran in the past. The Barbee kid is fast and they like to run some jet sweep, outside zone, inside zone, block down kick out power, counter type stuff, then they’ll fake the the counter and throw the quick screen. They’re well balanced in what they’re trying to do, but still evolving into who they want to be.”

On the flip side of the ball, the Hawks did not allow a point until the fourth quarter last week, led by the play of Garren Wiggins (11 tackles), Brylan White (10 tackles), Ethan Michalewicz (9 tackles, 1 for loss), Lane Stansberry (7 tackles, 2 for loss), and Barbee (4 tackles, 1 interception).

“Defensively, they do a phenomenal job of keeping you off balance,” Burnett said “They’re going to be in a 3-3 stack and stunt and stem and do things to try and get us confused and bust assignments up front. They’ll bring six or seven guys, try and overload a gap and get you by numbers. Coverage-wise, who knows what they’ll be in. They could be in cover 2, cover 3, man free, we’ve seen them in all those so we’ll have to figure that out Friday night at the game. Up front they have Brylan White at defensive tackle, Garren Wiggins is linebacker, safety type kid that plays all over the place. Caleb Braden does a good job at corner. They have a lot of speed, did well in track last year, and they bring a lot of speed to the field.”

Special teams play seems to always be a concern in season openers, and for the Lions there has been added emphasis this week with Wall having a contest under its belt.

“We have to kick and cover whether it’s a punt or kickoff because they’re dynamic,” Burnett said. “For us, we have to get our blocks and set the tone when it;s our turn to receive a punt or kickoff. I think we have the ability to take it the house, we just have to do our job.”

For the Lions offense, a rotation of Aidan Packheiser, Logan Flores, Isaiah Rosas, Tristan Stephens, Aaron Clevenger and Luke Hagood will man the trenches, along with Ian Barrera at tight end. The receiving corps of Carson Noe, Grant Gray, Aaron Edmonds and Stone Ratliff are the most experienced unit on the team, while Levi Pearson and Trey Moseley are expected to get most of the work in the backfield. The quarterback position in the preseason has featured both Judson Coalson as well as Braeden Stacks. Coalson did lead Brownwood on its two touchdown drives in the scrimmages, culminating with scoring tosses.

“Our offensive line has to control the line of scrimmage,” Burnett said. “We have to be able to own the line of scrimmage and dominate up front to set up our run game, that’s extremely important to us and it sets up our pass game. If you’re having to load the box to stop the run, that gives us more windows and opportunities to throw the ball and our play action and bootleg stuff is a lot better.”

Defensively, the Lions will likely feature a rotation up front of Robert Trowbridge, Ben Wilson, Ian Barrera, Levi Pearson and possibly Wolf. The linebackers look to be Brinson Martin, Jack Field, and Enrique Vazquez, while the secondary will feature Noah Gonzalez, Kenyan McDowell, Devin Eanes, Raven Prado and Caven Webster.

“Defensively we have to swarm them and overpower them and confuse them, fly to the football and be physical,” Burnett said. “We have to break down and make tackles, especially on the perimeter where they’re really fast. We can’t give them the opportunity have big plays.”

Eli Valencia appears to be ready to handle kicking and punting duties this week after nursing a groin injury. If not, Rory McNeese could be called into service.

Perhaps the biggest key Friday night, Burnett said, is, “Getting our feet wet quickly. We have to get going, weather any storms there may be early, and get settled into what we want to do.”

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Brownwood is a 7-point favorite.