TUSCOLA – The Brownwood Lions shook off a loss in their first contest Saturday at the Jim Ned portion of the Big Country 7-on-7 Division II state qualifier and finished with three consecutive victories – including avenging their opening defeat – to secure a trip to Veterans Park and Athletic Complex in College Station June 26-27 for the state tournament.
The Lions dropped a 20-13 decision to Shallowater out of the gate, but responded with victories of 40-6 over the Jim Ned JV and 26-8 over Miles to earn a rematch with Shallowater with a state berth on the line, where Brownwood came out on top 20-14.
“I felt like our kids played their hearts out and conducted themselves in a way I want to see,” Lions head coach Jeryl Brixey said after observing the action. “Play the next play, don’t worry about whether a call was made or wasn’t made, and that’s what they did. I was proud to see that.”
The Lions scored on 15 of 22 possessions, or 68 percent, with only one interception, while the defense gave up scores on 7 of 21 drives, just 33 percent, with four picks.
“You have to go out and learn, and for these kids what we’re doing is still new to them,” Brixey said. “We were missing a few guys but I thought Raven Prado showed up big today. He hasn’t played much offense for us but had a big day catching the ball. Then Carson Noe played a little safety for us and had a nice day. We’re running our regular defense, not a 7-on-7 defense, and we’re going to put pressure on the quarterback but you can’t really do that in 7-on-7 so they’re having to learn and figure out some things on the run and they’re doing a good job of coaching themselves and making adjustments. I’m pretty pleased.”
Brownwood as a whole completed 66 percent of its passes – 61 of 92 – as Judson Coalson connected on 47 of 69 attempts with 11 touchdowns and only one interception, while Riggs Gray was 14 of 23 through the air with four scoring tosses.
More receivers got into the act offensively as Durham Brown led the team with 13 grabs, followed by Conner Cornelius with 11 and five touchdowns, Raven Prado with 11 and four scores, and Carson Noe with 11 and three trips to the end zone. Sirr Beam also hauled in eight receptions and crossed the goal line twice and Caven Webster scored on his lone catch.
Defensively, Webster, Noe, Aiden Jimenez and Cason Wooten intercepted passes for the Lions.
In the 20-14 victory over Shallowater, Cornelius caught the winning touchdown pass from Gray with just under 30 seconds left in the contest. Knotted at 14 with Shallowater driving, the interception by Wooten gave the ball back to Brownwood with a chance to steal the victory.
The Lions led 14-7 at halftime on scoring tosses from Coalson to Cornelius and Gray to Webster, before Shallowater drew even in the second half.
Brownwood’s first win of the day against the Jim Ned JV featured four scoring tosses from Coalson – who connected 11 of 15 attempts – and a pair from Gray, who went 5 for 5. Noe, Prado and Beam each hauled in two touchdown catches.
In the win over Miles, the Lions jumped out to a 20-0 edge as Coalson, who was 17 of 26 with four touchdowns for the game, connected with Prado and Cornelius on two scoring tosses apiece.
Noe, Jimenez and Webster recorded their interceptions in this contest.
The opener against Shallowater saw a pair of interceptions slip through the Lions’ fingers, which eventually resulted in touchdown drives for the Mustangs.
Coalson went 14 of 23 with touchdowns to Noe and Cornelius, and his interception came on the final play of the contest.
“We’ve had some slow starts in our first games of the morning but the way it was set up we were able to come back and have a play in game,” Brixey said. “We got a chance to play those guys again in the qualifying round, and you want that opportunity because I felt like in the first game we let it get away from us. Sometimes I’m just worried about what we do and we had our opportunities and didn’t make them. But I did want the opportunity to play them again for the kids’ confidence knowing if they play well and execute well they can beat a team that they lost to and they did that. In all honesty, we’re probably going to have to beat someone in the playoffs we played in the regular season, so you have to be able to get that done.”
Prior to last summer, Brownwood had reached the state tournament every year in which it competed in 7-on-7 – from 2000-23.
