CHINA SPRING – Head coach Sammy Burnett mentioned throughout the week that Friday night would serve as a fresh start for Brownwood after suffering lopsided losses the last two weeks, but it turned out to be the finish by the Lions that returned them to the win column.
The Lions recorded the final 24 points of the contest, erasing an eight-point deficit en route to defeating the China Spring Cougars, 37-21, to improve to 2-2 on the season and remain unbeaten on the road in 2024.
“What a game,” Burnett said after the contest. “We did well in the second, third and fourth quarters and really came out after halftime after making some good adjustments on defense and imposed our will like we want to do. I challenged them to come out and win the second half, and they dominated the third quarter and the fourth quarter.”
The Lions’ 37 points scored Friday eclipsed the total of the previous three games combined – 33 – and Brownwood finished with 394 yards after averaging just 210 yards per outing over the first three.
Burnett said the key to the offensive turnaround was, “Our kids’ faith in each other and what we’re still trying to do. We challenged them to play their best game tonight, there was no reason not to, and I thought they did a phenomenal job and believed and executed when they had to. Whatever it takes to get a win and I’m so proud of these guys. We came in here with the mentality that we’re 0-0. Learn from your mistakes, but block out the past and that starts with heart and effort and your faith in God, your faith in your coaches, your faith in yourself and your faith in what we’re trying to go out here and do.”
Quarterback Judson Coalson completed 17 of 22 passes for 228 yards and three touchdowns – to three separate receivers – while Trey Mosley returned to the lineup and amassed 143 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Aaron Edmonds led the receiving corps with six grabs for 124 yards with a trip to the end zone.
“I couldn’t have done this without my coaches, and without the defense stepping up and allowing us to get the ball back,” Coalson said. “The offensive line did a great job creating run holes and that opened up our passing game. I was a lot calmer tonight, the guys were locked in, we’ve been listening to our coaches, they coached us up and we spent a lot of time watching film this week and preparing.”
Defensively, the Lions created four takeaways Friday night after forcing just one all season. China Spring (1-4) scored on its first three possessions and tallied 234 first-half yards, but managed just 128 yards after the break finished with a total of 362 yards for the game.
“We just came to the sideline and figured out what formations we needed to be in and put our trust in the coaches to put us in these formations and we just played ball from there,” linebacker Brinson Martin said of the defensive improvement throughout the game.
Burnett stated the key to slowing down China Spring was containing quarterback Matthew Battles, who finished with just 53 yards on the ground and he completed 8 of 19 passes for 95 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions – both by Devin Eanes.
“With all the film we watched we started to learn some of his tendencies and we just forced him to do what he didn’t want to do do,” Martin said. “Being able to shut him down dragged their offense down and built our defense up and we got some serious momentum.”
Burnett added, “We came out after halftime and Coach (David) Jones and his group made some really good adjustments at halftime and found a way to stymie their option. They got a little bit, but that was their bread and butter and I thought we did a good job of getting off the field when we had to in the second half.”
The two teams traded scores in the opening half as China Spring carried a 21-20 edge into halftime.
Raven Prado returned the opening kick of the game 66 yards, which set up a 27-yard Rory McNeese field goal just 2:37 into the contest. After hitting just 2 of 5 field goals the first three games and having one extra point blocked, McNeese converted all three field goal attempts Friday, as well as all four extra point tries.
“I just felt more relaxed, got into a groove and just calmed down and played like I know how to play,” McNeese said. “This is a big confidence booster for us, and especially for me because I’ve been a little down after the last couple of weeks, but this feels good.”
China Spring responded on its first drive with a 44-yard scoring toss from Battles to Christian Trevino, and the Lions trailed 7-3 at the 6:11 mark of the first.
Brownwood answered with a 52-yard march, aided by a 29-yard Mosley gallop, as McNeese then converted a 37-yard field goal at the 2:35 mark of the first period to close the gap to 7-6.
The Cougars answered with their longest play from scrimmage of the night, a 72-yard sprint by Chrishon Gregory following an option pitch from Battles, and China Spring stretched its lead to 14-6 with 1:35 left in the opening stanza.
“The option got us some early and people will see that and try and implement that in their offense against us,” Burnett said. “We have to make sure we’re getting off blocks in the secondary and we can’t let them tie us up. We have to make sure we fit right. We did a pretty good job of taking the quarterback away, but we have to do a better job playing the pitch. We’ll fix that and get more physical on the back end.”
The Lions countered with their first touchdown of the contest as Coalson connected with Grant Gray – who grabbed three passes for 48 yards – on an 18-yard scoring toss to cap a nine-play, 71-yard drive to bring the Lions within 14-13 with 9:51 left before halftime.
China Spring fired back with what would be its last points of the night as Jakoby Bledsoe caught a 5-yard pass from Battles with 7:12 left in the second period to wrap up a six-play, 60-yard trek.
Down 21-13, the Lions were able to tack on another crucial touchdown before the break after Eanes intercepted Battles for the first time at the Brownwood 30 with 3:43 left in the half. Coalson then connected with Edmonds on a 30-yard gain, which set up Mosley’s 17-yard touchdown run that brought the Lions within 21-20 with 65 seconds left before intermission.
China Spring started the second half with the ball and the Lions forced the first punt of the contest. After Brownwood fared no better on its initial possession of the third quarter, a 29-yard punt by Eli Valenciano bounced off a China Spring player at the Cougar 19, where Levi Pearson pounced on the ball.
Four plays later, McNeese nailed a 30-yard field goal to give Brownwood a lead it would never relinquish, 23-21, at the 6:48 mark of the third period.
The next Cougar drive ended at the Brownwood 37 when Julius Lara broke through the line and disrupted an option pitch by Battles, which Wyatt Wolf dove on at the Lion 45 for the third takeaway of the night.
Moments later, while rolling out to his right, Coalson bought time and found Edmonds crossing the field, as the duo connected for a 57-yard scoring strike that gave the Lions a two-score advantage, 30-21, with 2:21 remaining in the third period.
“I just kept my eyes downfield and worked my way through the pocket,” Coalson said. “The o-line stepped up and our receivers ran their routes to their fullest potential, and sure enough one of the guys got open and I was able to complete it.”
China Spring punted near midfield following its next possession and, after a 29-yard punt return back to the Brownwood 49 by Eanes, the Lions delivered a dagger nine plays later with a 10-yard scoring toss from Coalson to Carson Noe – who caught four passes for 31 yards – for a 37-21 lead with seven minutes to go.
The final scoring drive was aided by a 23-yard Mosley jaunt in which he carried half the China Spring team on his back for the final 10 yards.
The Cougars got the ball back three more times in the closing minutes, but never mounted a serious scoring threat, and Eanes added another interception before the contest concluded.
Next week, the Lions face an opponent they’ve never seen before – the Ingleside Mustangs (4-1) – which are coming off a 25-21 win over Corpus Christi Ray – at 7 p.m. Friday in Boerne in the final game before the start of District 4-4A Division I action.
“We’re 1-0 now because we’re putting the past behind us and we’re wanting to be 2-0 against Ingleside,” Burnett said. “I want to see us grow from where we are tonight, I want to see a great week of practice, and I want to see us focus with a sense of urgency about what we’re trying to do because we have one more opportunity before we start district.”
***
Brownwood 37, China Spring 21
SCORE BY QUARTERS
| Brownwood | 6 | 14 | 10 | 7 | – 37 |
| China Spring | 14 | 7 | 0 | 0 | – 21 |
***
SCORING SUMMARY
B: Rory McNeese 27 FG, 9:23, 1st
C: Christian Trevino 44 pass from Matthew Battles (Joseph Dickerson kick), 6:11, 1st
B: McNeese 37 FG, 2:35, 1st
C: Chrishon Gregory 72 run (Dickerson kick), 1:35, 1st
B: Grant Gray 18 pass from Judson Coalson (McNeese kick), 9:51, 2nd
C: Jakoby Bledsoe 5 pass from Battles (Dickerson kick), 7:12, 2nd
B: Trey Mosley 17 run (McNeese kick), 1:05, 2nd
B: McNeese 30 FG, 6:48, 3rd
B: Aaron Edmonds 57 pass from Coalson (McNeese kick), 2:21, 3rd
B: Carson Noe 10 pass from Coalson (McNeese kick), 7:00, 4th
***
| TEAM STATS | Brownwood | China Spring |
| First Downs | 18 | 16 |
| Total Offense | 394 | 362 |
| Rushes-Yards | 31-166 | 35-267 |
| Passing Yards | 228 | 95 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 17-22-0 | 8-19-2 |
| Fumbles Lost | 1 | 2 |
| Penalties-Yards | 6-35 | 5-54 |
| Punts-Average | 3-23.3 | 2-34.0 |
***
PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: B – Trey Mosley 22-143, TD; Grant Gray 2-19; Judson Coalson 7-4. C – Chrishon Gregory 20-191, TD; Matthew Battles 10-53; Dean Hannah 4-31; Team 1-(-8).
PASSING: B – Coalson 17-22-0-228, 3 TDs. C – Battles 8-19-2-95, 2 TDs.
RECEIVING: B – Aaron Edmonds 6-124, TD; Carson Noe 4-31, TD; Levi Pearson 4-25; Grant Gray 3-48, TD. C – Christian Trevino 3-60, TD; Hannah 2-9; Jakoby Bledsoe 2-6, TD; Morgan Hensley 1-20.
KICKING: B – Rory McNeese 3 of 3 FGs, long of 37. 4 of 4 PATs.
Eli Valenciano – 3 punts for 70 yards, 23.3 average – 1 inside 20