After being held scoreless by preseason Top 5 and reigning Class 4A Division I Region I champion Decatur a week ago, the Lions reached the end zone three times against Lampasas – a 6-5 playoff team in 2022 – while the Brownwood defense – which yielded just one touchdown last week – tossed a shutout in its second outing.

“We saw progress from this week compared to last week,” Burnett said. “I thought we did what we wanted to do defensively. Offensively, we had a couple of struggles but we did a better job up front, moved the ball better and threw and caught the ball better.”

Another objective Thursday was to establish depth, and all three touchdowns were scored by players who were not offensive contributors in 2022 – Xavier Zepeda, Aaron Edmonds and Levi Pearson.

Next up for the Lions is the 2023 season opener at Class 5A Division II Abilene Wylie, which advanced to its regional championship game a year ago. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25 in Abilene which you can listen to on KOXE 101.3, KOXE.COM or the KOXE App.