ALVARADO – As was the case a week ago against Argyle Liberty Christian, the Class 4A Division I preseason No. 7 Brownwood Lions found their footing as their second and final scrimmage against the No. 22 Alvarado Indians progressed Thursday night.
The Lions gave up a pair of touchdowns on Alvarado’s first set of 10 plays during the controlled portion of the scrimmage, and did not find the end zone. But later in the live quarter, the Lions owned a 7-0 scoring advantage that could have been even greater.
“I thought it was a good scrimmage for us again,” said Lions seventh-year head coach Sammy Burnett. “I’ll be honest with you, we don’t put our kids in a position, and I know it sounds bad, to be successful in a scrimmage. We do what we do and we don’t try and show our hand. We play Wylie next week and this will be the scrimmage they get and we don’t want to show all our cards right now. It’s not fun to watch for me because I know we can do so much more, but we have to be patient. Still, I was pleased with the way our kids played.”
Perhaps just as important as the growth the Lions again displayed as the scrimmage went on, was a fairly clean bill of health at the end of the night.
Defensive lineman/tight end Weston Wolf (shoulder), offensive lineman Aidan Packheiser (knee), tight end Aiden Driskill (broken leg) and kicker Eli Valenciano (leg) didn’t suit up for the Lions due to varying injuries. But on a positive note, the Lions appeared to escape the scrimmage without anyone else’s name being added to the significant injury report.
“We’re pretty banged up right now, we had a lot of starters that didn’t play, but it’s next man up,” Burnett said.
In the 15-minute live quarter, the Lions defense witnessed Alvarado drive from its own 27 to the Brownwood 18 on its initial possession, but the drive stalled there as three straight incompletions ended the march.
The Lions then responded with a 12-play, 65-yard trek that resulted in the only points as Judson Coalson connected with Stone Ratliff on a 26-yard fade on third-and-17 with 3:46 left on the clock.
The drive started with a 21-yard toss from Coalson to Levi Pearson, who saw some time at tight end due the injuries to Wolf and Driskill. Coalson added a 4-yard carry, Trey Mosley rushed for 5 yards on one tote, then Coalson connected Grant Gray for 8 yards on a fourth-and-6 from the Indian 40.
After Brownwood took the lead, Alvarado fumbled the ball back to the Lions on the first snap of the ensuing possession. A 6-yard carry by Mosley moved the ball to the Alvarado 28, but Rory McNeese’s 45-yard field goal attempt was off target. Still, the Lions milked 1:49 off the clock as the Indians took over at their own 28 with 1:57 remaining.
Alvarado was able to advance to the Brownwood 17, but time ran out on the Indians’ hopes to draw even.
“In the live quarter offensively I thought we performed really well, and that’s the game situation and that’s what you want to see,” said Burnett, whose team ran a minimal offensive playbook and just a base defense throughout the night. “That’s a good football team and I expect them to do great things in Region II, but for us to come out and play the way we did in that live quarter was really good for us.”
During the controlled portion of the scrimmage, the Lions’ first play was a fumbled exchange on a hand off between Braeden Stacks and Pearson that Alvarado recovered. Meanwhile, the Indians’ first snap resulted in a 65-yard scoring sprint on an outside zone rush.
Alvarado moved 65 yards again over its next nine plays, with the final snap being a 4-yard touchdown toss. Meanwhile, the deepest advancement by the Lions’ offense during the controlled scrimmage was to the Indian 38, where Stacks was intercepted to end the potential scoring threat.
While giving the ball away twice in the controlled scrimmage, the Lions also forced a turnover as Wyatt Wolf picked off a pass and returned it 25 yards to midfield.
Some of Alvarado’s most successful plays would not have counted in a regular season contest as they were flagged for eight penalties that would have resulted in 85 yards of lost yardage, but those were not marked. Brownwood, meanwhile, was penalized four times for 20 yards in the controlled portion. In the live quarter, Alvarado committed three more penalties for 17 yards that were marked, while the Lions were whistled for one false start.
Offering a quick assessment of what stood out to him immediately after the scrimmage, Burnett said, “Defensively, other than the outside zone, I thought we did a good job playing the run. In the back end, we did some good things, we just have to understand motions and play before the play. We have to know what we’re doing before the play happens. Overall I thought our coverages were good, but we did bust a couple of assignments in the last part of the controlled scrimmage.
“Offensively, we did a better job protecting the quarterback, the quarterbacks had more time to throw the ball, and then the quarterbacks also did a better job of getting rid of the football. We had some drops offensively that we don’t normally have, but then we bounced back and made a couple of plays that we should.”
Next, the Lions will open the regular season at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30 when they host the Class 5A Division II Abilene Wylie Bulldogs at Gordon Wood Stadium.
“I feel fine about where we are, our kids are competitors and they’re growing every day,” Burnett said. “Now it’s time to get ready for Wylie and I’m excited because we’re going to put a game plan together. We’re going to spend hours and hours putting together a game plan, they’re going to practice that game plan and go out and play fast and physical and I’m excited about the opportunity. We’re going to give them a game plan that sets them up for success. We’re not going to sit on our heels anymore and let teams dictate to us, we’re going to dictate what we do defensively and offensively.”