BOERNE – With the initial game of the District 4-4A Division I campaign a week away, the Brownwood Lions are playing their best ball of the season, and head coach Sammy Burnett feels the squad can perform even better.
In Friday night’s pre-district finale, the Lions excelled offensively, defensively and on special teams for the bulk of the night en route to a 55-7 victory over the 4A Division II Ingleside Mustangs.
The Lions (3-2), in their second straight win, finished with a season-high 420 yards of total offense – 257 passing and 163 rushing – with no turnovers, while the defense yielded 226 yards, and only 55 in the second half, as Ingleside (4-2) finished with 175 on the ground and 51 through the air. Brownwood also forced two more turnovers on defense, and converted all its field goals and extra points while punting just twice.
“I’m pleased with what we’re doing but I still think we can grow and that’s a positive,” Burnett said. “I do think we’re starting to gel at the right time, but we can still get better as a team. If we had reached our plateau now I don’t know that I’d be happy. Our kids aren’t satisfied, they fought through tough times and they know they can get better.”
After passing for 228 yards and three touchdowns with just five incompletions last week, junior quarterback Judson Coalson continued with his hot hand Friday as he connected on 16 of 18 passes for 257 yards and three more touchdowns – again to three separate receivers.
“Judson did an outstanding job.,” Burnett said. “The game is slowing down for him, he’s understanding the offense better, he’s seeing the defense and he’s taking what they give him. I’m really pleased with his progression. With some of the mechanical things he is doing, I think he could be even better and that’s a blessing. I’m really pleased with the way he’s learned the offense and slowed the game down, and that’s because he’s advancing.”
Coalson spread the ball around to six different receivers as Grant Gray caught four passes for 63 yards with a touchdown, Aaron Edmonds finished with four grabs for 51 yards and scored once, Carson Noe pulled down three catches for 48 yards, and Devin Eanes finished with a pair of receptions covering 69 yards and a trip to the end zone.
Edmonds said of the development of the passing game over the past two outings, “It’s because of the discipline in practice and critiquing the little things.”
On the ground, Trey Mosley rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns, while Coalson chipped in 20 yards and another score, thanks to the blocking of Weston Wolf, Luke Hagood, Isaiah Rosas, Aidan Packheiser and Ian Barrera.
Wolf, who moved to left tackle two weeks ago, said of the improvements up front, “We just weren’t getting it done, we needed to make changes and so far it’s worked out pretty well. You always have to make adjustments and see what works. We watched film to prepare for this game and trusted in Judson and our receivers and knew they were going to make plays as long as we gave them time.”
Defensively, the Lions kept Ingleside off the scoreboard and yielded just 51 yards through the air and 175 on the ground. Mustang quarterback Sawyer Chalk rushed for 101 yards and passed for 55 yards to spark Ingleside, which threatened to score on offense just once.
The Mustangs’ only points came as the result of a 98-yard kick return by Jett Hoskins after Brownwood grabbed a 41-0 lead early in the fourth quarter.
“I was proud of them in all three phases of the game until we let them return a kickoff,” Burnett said. “I’ll go back and look at film and see what happened.”
Special teams perks included field goals of 41 and 40 yards by Rory McNeese, who has now booted five successful kicks in a row, and he also converted all seven PATs. Meanwhile, Eanes returned a punt 35 yards to the Ingleside 1 to set up a Lions’ second-half score.
“Rory’s coming into his own and his confidence is getting there,” Burnett said. “I gave him an opportunity to kick a deep one from the right hash to see what he could do and he drilled it. I’m really pleased with our special teams. Coach (Ryan) Jackson take it serious, we spend a lot of time on it in practice and we have two dynamic guys in the back end – Devin on punt returns and Raven on kicks.”
Brownwood’s defense established momentum early with an interception by Prado on Ingleside’s first pass attempt, which set up Brownwood’s first touchdown, and Prado later returned a fumble recovery 52 yards for the Lions’ third score.
“Raven had an interception on the first pass downfield, he read his coverage well and broke on the ball and made a pick by being where he was supposed to be,” Burnett said. “Then later on they put the ball on the ground, we get to the ball, it bounces around and Raven scoops and scores and that was another big play for us. Being positive in the turnover game is huge.”
Prado’s pick of Chalk set up Coalson’s 36-yard scoring toss to Edmonds at the 8:39 mark of the first quarter, and the Lions were off and running, 7-0.
“It was our second play of the game so it was great to start the game off like that, and it was a great throw,” Edmonds said.
Brownwood turned in its second consecutive two-play scoring drive the next time it had the ball as Coalson connected with Eanes on a 63-yard fly pattern, and the Lions led 14-0 with 3:24 left in the first.
The defense got into the scoring act next as Chalk lost the ball on a second-and-7 option play from the Brownwood 36, and Prado scooped up the fumble and raced 52 yards to the end zone for a 21-0 cushion just 41 seconds into the second quarter.
“I thought the quarterback was going to hold the ball, and I didn’t see who but one of my teammates was back there already and I thought he was going to land on the ball,” Prado said. “The quarterback got there first and couldn’t get on it, so I was able to pick it up and go.”
The Lions tacked on McNeese’s two field goals – the 41-yarder at the 7:01 mark and the 40-yarder on the final snap of the half – to open a 27-0 lead at intermission.
Brownwood’s domination continued in the second half as the Lions needed just five plays and 1:46 to move 57 yards as Coalson connected with Gray on a 34-yard scoring toss for a 34-0 edge.
Mosley added his touchdowns in the fourth quarter, scoring with 11:26 to go from 17 yards out, and again from 44 yards with 8:34 left. Ingleside’s kick return for a touchdown was sandwiched between for a 48-7 Brownwood edge.
After Ingleside punted the ball from inside its end zone with 5:39 left in the game, Eanes returned it to the Mustang 1. Coalson later scored on a 6-yard carry, which followed a Brownwood false start call – one of 10 penalties for 89 yards for the Lions.
Next week, Brownwood opens District 4-4A Division I action at Lampasas (5-1), which picked up a 24-13 home victory over Lorena Thursday night.
“Lampasas has a good football team,” Burnett said. “Their quarterback was out some of the last two games with a concussion but he’ ll be back and they’re a different football team with him at the helm. He’s a good runner, a good passer, and they have good receivers and a good defense. They’re a solid football team, but so are we, so it’s going to be a fun match-up.”
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Brownwood 55, Ingleside 7
SCORE BY QUARTERS
| Brownwood | 14 | 13 | 7 | 21 | – 55 |
| Ingleside | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | – 7 |
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SCORING SUMMARY
B: Aaron Edmonds 36 pass from Judson Coalson (Rory McNeese kick), 8:39, 1st
B: Devin Eanes 63 pass from Coalson (McNeese kick), 3:24, 1st
B: Raven Prado 52 fumble return (McNeese kick), 11:47, 2nd
B: McNeese 41 FG, 7:01, 2nd
B: McNeese 40 FG, 0:00, 2nd
B: Grant Gray 34 pass from Coalson (McNeese kick), 10:14, 3rd
B: Trey Mosley 17 run (McNeese kick), 11:26, 4th
I: Jett Hoskins 98 kick return (kick good), 11:10, 4th
B: Mosley 44 run (McNeese kick), 8:24, 4th
B: Coalson 6 run (McNeese kick), 5:39, 4th
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| TEAM STATS | Brownwood | Ingleside |
| First Downs | 17 | 15 |
| Total Offense | 420 | 226 |
| Rushes-Yards | 21-163 | 44-175 |
| Passing Yards | 257 | 51 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 16-18-0 | 9-19-1 |
| Fumbles Lost | 0 | 1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 10-89 | 5-44 |
| Punts-Average | 2-36.0 | 3-34.3 |
***
PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: B – Trey Mosley 17-136, 2 TDs; Judson Coalson 3-20, TD; Noah Gonzalez 1-7. I – Sawyer Chalk 21-101; Aaron Flores 14-46; Javier Solis 2-16; Carson Lopez 6-10; Julius Sierra 1-2.
PASSING: B – Coalson 16-18-0-257, 3 TDs. I – Chalk 8-18-1-55; Solis 1-1-0-(-4).
RECEIVING: B – Grant Gray 4-63, TD; Aaron Edmonds 4-51, TD; Carson Noe 3-48; Devin Eanes 2-69, TD; Mosley 2-10; Braeden Stacks 1-16. I – Sierra 4-22; Jordan Smith 2-23; Solis 1-9; Isaac Freeman 1-1; Jett Hoskins 1-(-4).
KICKING: B – Rory McNeese 2 of 2 FGs, long of 41. 7 of 7 PATs.
Eli Valenciano – 2 punts for 72 yards, 36.0 average – 1 inside 20.