The Glen Rose Tigers scored on their first seven possessions, including four touchdowns in the second period alone, while the Brownwood offense continued to battle bouts of inconsistency, a formula that resulted in the Lions’ first loss of the 2024 campaign, 44-16, Friday night at Gordon Wood Stadium.
“We got just got beat, and got beat by a better team,” said Lions seventh-year head coach Sammy Burnett. “They out-executed us, they out-physicaled us. We should have got off the field in the first half several times but didn’t. Offensively, we have to find our way. We saw some bright spots and some bad spots, we just have to grow and get better. The games don’t get any easier. That’s a good football team we just faced and I’ve said from the beginning I think they have the ability to go all the way. We’ve got to fix what we did wrong, have a good attitude going into practice next week, face the fact that we just got beat and go to work, that’s all you can do. You have to figure out what you did wrong, fix what you did wrong, don’t worry about your neighbor, let your neighbor take of his house, and let’s go get better as a team.”
Glen Rose (3-0), ranked No. 2 in Class 4A Division II by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, generated 480 yards of total offense – 327 passing and 153 rushing – against a Brownwood defense that yielded just 137 yards total in a 17-7 win at Wall last week.
“They have a great passing game,” Burnett said. “I thought we did a pretty good job on the running game, but the screens are still getting us. We have to be more physical on the outside and make the plays on the screens when we have people wrapped up. They have some elite receivers in the passing game and a very good quarterback. They throw the ball 80 percent of the time and they did a good job of getting open. We have to better at zone, knowing where we’re supposed to be and don’t watch the quarterback throw the footballl. Find work, get underneath receivers and help out the back end a little bit. And when we’re in man coverage, we have to cover our man.”
Brownwood (1-1), which entered the game ranked No. 7 in 4A Division I by DCTF, was limited to a first-half field goal and 67 yards of total offense before halftime, with 63 yards coming on the scoring drive. The Lions were able to produced a pair of second-half touchdowns and finished with 194 total yards – 103 on the ground and 91 through the air.
“When we start clicking and get some momentum, we can go,” Burnett said. “We just can’t stop ourselves. When we get behind the chains, we stop ourselves and we have to cut out the mental mistakes, the execution mistakes, and make sure on first down we get positive plays. We can’t be facing third and long, fourth and long, second and 20 and first and 20. We have to stay in front of the chains.”
Tiger quarterback Canyon Evans completed 27 of 35 passes for 327 yards with three touchdowns and was sacked just once by Levi Pearson. Josiah Groeneweg caught a team-high 11 passes for 147 yards and also rushed for a team-best 51 yards.
Adrian Sanchez finished with six grabs for 65 yards and scored once, Brodey Bowman caught two passes for 25 yards with a trip to the end zone, and Colton Andress hauled in a 23-yard scoring reception.
Luke Males added 35 rushing yards and a touchdown and Keltyn Raymond chipped in 18 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
For the Lions, behind the front line of Ian Barrera, Aidan Packheiser, Isaiah Rosas, Luke Haygood and Logan Flores, Trey Mosley finished with 86 yards on the ground and a touchdown.
Quarterback Judson Coalson completed 12 of 20 passes for 91 yards with a touchdown and added 17 yards rushing.
Aaron Edmonds led the way with four grabs for 13 yards and a touchdown, Carson Noe caught three passes for 32 yards, Levi Pearson grabbed two for 16, Devin Eanes pulled down a pair for 15, and Grant Gray made a 15-yard catch as well.
Glen Rose opened the scoring with a 14-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a 22-yard Jorge Mendoza field goal. The Lions answered with their own 16-play, 63-yard, 6:35 trek that culiminated with a 26-yard field goal by Rory McNeese that knotted the score at 3 with 1:39 left in the first period.
From that point on, it was all Glen Rose as the Tigers recorded four consecutive touchdowns in the second period, while limiting Brownwood to a total of 4 yards in the quarter, en route to building a 30-3 halftime cushion.
A 23-yard pass from Evans to Andress gave the Tigers the lead for good, 10-3, just 33 seconds into the second period, ending a nine-play, 77-yard drive. The Lions lost 3 yards on their second possession and punted the ball away, and at the 6:08 mark a 1-yard plunge by Raymond capped a 66-yard march for a 16-3 Tiger lead.
Brownwood went three-and-out on its third possession, and a disastrous 2-yard punt following a poor snap gave Glen Rose the ball at the Lion 21. Despite an offensive pass interference penalty and facing a fourth-and-goal situation, the Tigers extended their lead to 23-3 on a 1-yard dive by Raymond with 3:04 left in the first half.
Raven Prado returned the ensuing kick to midfield for the Lions, who did not gain a yard in three snaps and punted the ball back to Glen Rose. The Tigers again ventured 77 yards in seven plays with Evans and Sanchez connecting on a 12-yard scoring toss with 15 seconds left before halftime, boosting the lead to 30-3.
Like the first half, the Lions took their opening possession of the second half the length of the field and this time found the end zone on a 1-yard carry by Mosley. After mustering just 67 yards in the first half, the Lions traveled 75 yards in 12 plays and 5:36 to cut the deficit to 30-9 after the extra point was blocked.
Glen Rose tacked on two more touchdowns – one in third quarter on a 6-yard run by Males, and one in the fourth quarter on a 6-yard toss from Evans to Bowman.
Down 44-9 heading into the fourth period, the Lions were able to light up the scoreboard again on their final possession, which began at the Glen Rose 36 following a short punt. Following three runs for 31 yards by Mosley, Coalson connected with Edmonds for a 5-yard touchdown, the first through the air for the Lions this season.
Glen Rose defeated Brownwood for just the second time in five all-time meetings between the schools, with the only other previous win for the Tigers coming in the 2012 playoffs, 14-10.
Next week, the Lions host Waco La Vega (1-2), which is coming off a 35-27 loss to West Orange Stark.
“La Vega is very athletic, they have a great running back, good quarterback and they’re big up front,” Burnett said. “Defensively they’re going to play a 4-3 with seven in the box and straight man, so we have to be able to work outside and beat some defenders.”
***
Glen Rose 44, Brownwood 16
SCORE BY QUARTERS
| Glen Rose | 3 | 27 | 14 | 0 | – 44 |
| Brownwood | 3 | 0 | 6 | 7 | – 16 |
***
SCORING SUMMARY
G: Jorge Mendoza 22 FG, 8:23, 1st
B: Rory McNeese 26 FG, 1:39, 1st
G: Colton Andress 23 pass from Canyon Evans (Mendoza kick), 11:27, 2nd
G: Keltyn Raymond 1 run (kick failed), 6:08, 2nd
G: Raymond 1 run (Mendoza kick), 3:04 2nd
G: Adrian Sanchez 12 pass from Evans (Mendoza kick), 0:15, 2nd
B: Trey Mosley 1 run (kick blocked), 6:24, 3rd
G: Luke Males 6 run (Mendoza kick), 3:40, 3rd
G: Brodey Bowman 6 pass from Evans (Mendoza kick), 6:13, 4th
B: Aaron Edmonds 5 pass from Judson Coalson (McNeese kick), 2:47, 4th
***
| TEAM STATS | Glen Rose | Brownwood |
| First Downs | 28 | 15 |
| Total Offense | 480 | 194 |
| Rushes-Yards | 35-153 | 31-103 |
| Passing Yards | 327 | 91 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 27-35-0 | 12-20-0 |
| Fumbles Lost | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 6-60 | 3-35 |
| Punts-Average | 2-22.0 | 6-30.7 |
***
PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: G – Josiah Groeneweg 7-51; Luke Males 7-35, TD; Canyon Evans 4-25; Keltyn Raymond 3-18, 2 TDs; Gray Seward 6-13; Brayden Brewton 5-11. B – Trey Mosley 20-86, TD; Judson Coalson 11-17.
PASSING: G – Evans 27-35-0-327, 3 TDs. B – Coalson 12-20-0-91, TD.
RECEIVING: G – Groeneweg 11-147; Adrian Sanchez 5-65, TD; Males 4-29; Brewton 3-22; Brodey Bowman 2-25, TD; Colton Andress 1-23, TD; Jace Clifton 1-16. B – Aaron Edmonds 4-13, TD; Carson Noe 3-32; Levi Pearson 2-16; Devin Eanes 2-15; Grant Gray 1-15.
KICKING: B – Rory McNeese 1 of 1 FGs, long of 26. 1 of 2 PATs, 1 blocked
Eli Valenciano – 6 punts for 184 yards, 30.7 average – 1 inside 20.