The Lions dropped a 35-10 decision at Gordon Wood Stadium, but Brixey was complimentary of the performance he witnessed from his squad.
“Honestly I think you could see our kids start to grow up a little bit throughout the course of the night,” Brixey said. “Obviously you want to win every game, but our challenge every week is to get better and I feel like tonight we were better than we were a week ago. Now we have to go spend another week getting better.”
The Lions (0-2) offense improved from 92 yards of total offense against Abilene Wylie to 169 in Week 2 against Wall (2-0) – 100 through the air and 69 on the ground – and produced its first points of 2025.
Brixey said of the offense, “We had some good, extended drives. There’s so much communication happening up front that our kids are having to learn the importance of that. I think we got a lot better on the offensive line tonight against a really good Wall football team that’s going to play for a long time in the 3A ranks this year. I’m encouraged by how we competed, especially in the second half, and it feels like we’re starting to grow up a little bit and get some things fixed. There’s a lot of other things we still need to get fixed, but I think there’s a lot of positives.”
The Lions offense did have its share of struggles at times, producing just 36 yards over the first two periods and then turning over the ball three times after halftime.
Carson Noe hauled in five receptions for 77 yards and scored the Lions’ first touchdown of 2025 on a 9-yard scoring toss in the fourth period from Judson Coalson, who connected on 10 of 17 passes for 100 yards with two picks. Meanwhile, the Lions ground game was again sparked by Levi Pearson, who chalked up 57 yards on 20 carries.
Defensively, Brownwood surrendered 321 yards – 249 passing and 72 rushing – but forced its initial takeaway of the season, that coming on a Caven Webster interception in the third period.
Wall quarterback Landon York finished 17 of 20 through the air with three touchdowns to go along with his one interception. Hagyn Barbee led the Hawks with five receptions for 111 yards, Kellan Oliver added four grabs for 64 yards and scored once, and Reid Robertson nabbed a pair of receptions for 24 yards – both in the end zone. Brady Neal anchored the rushing attack with 53 yards and a touchdown.
Trailing 14-0 after York connected with Robertson on touchdown tosses of 10 and 14 yards, the Lions made their biggest play of the season to date with 1:03 left before halftime. With the Hawks facing a fourth-and-7 from their own 17, Brownwood called for a punt block and Raven Prado sliced through the Wall front line and deflected the kick, which eventually rolled out of bounds at the 1.
The Lions were unable to push the ball across the goal line as a false start penalty, followed by a pass from Coalson to Durham Brown in the end zone that was ruled to be incomplete, foiled Brownwood’s plans. Eli Valenciano, however, booted a 26-yard field goal as the Lions cut the deficit to 14-3 with 53 seconds before intermission.
“It was huge for momentum but then we turn around and jump offsides on the 1-yard line, you’ve got to be disciplined,” Brixey said of the sequence of plays. “Then I do believe, and Durham swears, he caught the football, but they said it was incomplete so you play the next play. We got points out of it though, and it was a big momentum swing for us.”
It appeared the Lions had created a significant confidence boost just before the break, but Wall answered by traveling 79 yards in two plays – a 64-yard screen pass from York to Barbee and then a 15-yard scoring strike from York to Oliver – and Brownwood was facing a 21-3 deficit at intermission.
“I always tell the defense to not worry about what’s on the scoreboard, and that includes the time,” Brixey said. “I felt like we looked up and their was 35 seconds left and we thought the half was over. We had a subpar play where we let them take a screen down the sideline and wound up getting a touchdown before the half, and that was discouraging.”
Brownwood did a much better job of moving the ball in the second half than the first, the problem was holding on to it.
Three of the Lions’ first four drives of the second half ended in interceptions. The first came just three plays into the third period as Levi King picked Coalson, but two snaps later Webster intercepted York.
Brownwood moved 40 yards down to the Wall 14 after its first takeaway of the season, but there Pearson was picked off near the goal line on an errant halfback pass attempt.
“I always tell the kids I own it when I do something stupid and the halfback pass on the wide side of the field was a stupid call and I took a touchdown away from us there,” Brixey said. “That was a quality drive.”
Despite the turnover, Wall failed to add to its lead and punted the ball to Brownwood, which took over at the Hawks 37 but advanced just 4 yards before failing to convert a fourth-and-6 pass attempt.
Wall then marched 67 yards in 10 plays, scoring on a 1-yard plunge by Dylan Sellers with 9:04 left in the contest as the lead grew to 28-3.
Brownwood again coughed up the ball on the next possession as Gunner King intercepted Coalson after Noe slipped making a cut, and King returned the pick 61 yards down to the Lion 3. On the next snap, Gray scored to increase the advantage to 35-3 with 7:16 left on the clock.
“We gave them that last touchdown and Judson’s going to puke when he sees that play,” Brixey said. “Our No. 1 read is the tight end down the middle of the field and he was wide smoking open. I get as tired of saying it as much as people get tired of hearing it, but that’s just part of a new system, you live and learn.”
Down by 32 points, the Lions continued to fight and covered 61 yards in seven plays as Coalson connected with Noe on a 9-yard scoring toss with 3:51 left for Brownwood’s first appearance in the end zone in 2025. Noe hauled in three receptions for 58 yards on the drive.
“It’s nice to get that monkey off our back,” Brixey said of reaching the end zone before the game ended. “As far as the game goes, it was still against their No. 1 kids playing hard, so we earned it.”
Next week, the Lions are back on the road as they venture to Glen Rose (0-2), which lost to Gatesville, 30-7, Friday night.
“I’m looking forward to another week of practice and I feel like right now our kids have a great, great attitude about what they believe we’re going to be,” Brixey said. “But we have to get rid of the turnovers next week and we can’t wait until the second half to start putting things together.”
***
Wall 35, Brownwood 10
SCORE BY QUARTERS
| Wall | 7 | 14 | 0 | 14 | – 35 |
| Brownwood | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | – 10 |
***
SCORING SUMMARY
W: Reid Robertson 10 pass from Landon York (Tyler Klinesmith kick), 7:36, 1st
W: Robertson 14 pass from York (Klinesmith kick), 5:58, 2nd
B: Eli Valenciano 26 FG, 0:53, 2nd
W: Kellan Oliver 15 pass from York (Klinesmith kick), 0:31, 2nd
W: Dylan Sellers 1 run (Klinesmith kick), 9:04, 4th
W: Brady Neal 3 run (Klinesmith kick), 7:16, 4th
B: Carson Noe 9 pass from Judson Coalson (Valenciano kick), 3:51, 4th
***
| TEAM STATS | W | B |
| First Downs | 19 | 11 |
| Total Offense | 321 | 169 |
| Rushes-Yards | 37-72 | 27-69 |
| Passing Yards | 249 | 100 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 18-21-1 | 10-18-3 |
| Fumbles Lost | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 2-20 | 3-15 |
| Punts-Average | 2-46.5 | 3-38.6 |
***
PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: W – Brady Neal 16-53, TD; Hagyn Barbee 2-13; Jager Thompson 5-9; Tayson Stucker 2-7; Evan Boehle 1-2; Dylan Sellers 1-1, TD; Kyler O’Neal 1-0; Landon York 4-(-13). B – Levi Pearson 20-57; Robbie Robinson 2-6; Daylyn Ansons 1-3; Judson Coalson 2-2; Trent Buffington 2-1.
PASSING: W – York 17-20-1-245, TD; Gunner King 1-1-0-4. B – Coalson 10-17-2-100, TD; Pearson 0-1-1-0.
RECEIVING: W – Barbee 5-111; Kellan Oliver 4-64, TD; Bryson McFarden 2-31; Reid Robertson 2-24, 2 TDs; Boehle 2-4; Thompson 1-7; Tyler Klinesmith 1-5; Neal 1-3. B – Carson Noe 5-77, TD; Robinson 3-18; Ansons 1-3; Connor Cornelius 1-2.
KICKING: B – Eli Valenciano 1 of 1 PATs. 1 of 1 FGs – long of 26
3 punts, 116 yards, 38.6 average – 2 inside 20
