The Brownwood Lions hit the field on Friday for their first scrimmage of the 2011 season as they tested their skills against the Class 2A Eastland Mavericks. Despite the ongoing drought in the area, a thunderstorm delayed the scrimmage for more than an hour, but did offer some relief from the heat.  The offense and defense were tested against Eastland who were very physical.

Lions Head Coach Bob Shipley characterized this scrimmage as a “wake-up call” for the players.

“I thought it was a good wake-up call for us,” Shipley said. “They (Eastland) were a very physical, a very quick team so that was good for us.”

Coach Shipley said that the team still needs some work on conditioning, protection, and the passing game.

“We found, obviously, a lot of things that have to get corrected,” Shipley said.  “That’s why we do this.”

The Lions did make several big plays including two 70-yard touchdown runs by quarterback Mitch Stephens. Running back Stehl Ratliff made several nice runs on the night as well.

Players will travel to Lubbock on Friday for their next scrimmage against Canyon at 10am.  The Lions will host Gatesville on the regular season opener on Aug. 26 at 7:30 p.m. at Gordon Wood Stadium.

See photos of Friday’s scrimmage by clicking our photo gallery below and see Coach Shipley’s post-game comments in the video.

{phocagallery view=category|categoryid=273|

limitstart=0|limitcount=1|detail=0|displayname=1|

displaydetail=1|imageshadow=shadow1}

{denvideo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdccRQtw7bs 400 300 }