No. 9 Lions host Marble Falls eyeing back

The No. 9 Brownwood Lions already achieved one feat last accomplished in 2019 – defeating the Abilene Wylie Bulldogs – as they target their first 2-0 start in four years with the Marble Falls Mustangs set to invade Gordon Wood Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the 2023 home opener.

“We’re coming off a win that was important for us, now we have to educate and stay mature about what we’re doing and realize how we got there and what we have to do to stay on top and continue to get those wins,” said Lions sixth-year head coach Sammy Burnett. “It’s not time to start resting and thinking we’ve reached some kind of pinnacle because we haven’t, we just started well.”

Marble Falls, which knocked off Pflugerville Connally by a 52-7 count in the 2022, fell to the same opponent by a 40-14 count in last week’s season opener. Trailing just 7-6 at halftime, the Mustangs were outscored by Connally 33-8 over the final two periods.

“The key for them last week was turnovers and the big play,” Burnett said of the Mustangs. “Marble Falls jumped out early and scored, but they made some mistakes and Connally got some turnovers and made some big plays on the back end on some touchdown passes. The big plays and turnovers are what caused the big discrepancy in the score. They’re still a good football team, they still have a lot of senior leadership and a lot of guys that played against us last year.”

The Mustangs yielded 456 yards of total offense – 237 passing and 219 rushing – and forced just one turnover via interception. Marble Falls gave up four passing touchdowns of 25, 29, 14 and 30 yards, and a pair of scores on the ground from 76 and 23 yards out.

“Defensively, I don’t know if they have the same coordinator, it seems like maybe they don’t have their identity yet to me,” Burnett said. “They’ll be in a 3-3-5, then they’ll be in a 3-4 and mix it up and do some different things, but for us I’m not sure what they’re going to be in. They’ve been in a five-man box which isn’t common when you face the style of offense we have where we run to set up the pass. They may have to move some people in the box which could change their coverage a bit and we’ll have to see that and adjust.”

The Lions counter with an offense that generated 35 points and 332 yards – 247 rushing and 85 passing – a week ago, with a pair of turnovers, behind the front line of Quinten McCarty, Cole Miller, Davis Le, Aidan Packheiser and Logan Knight. Quarterback Ike Hall rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns and completed 8 of 15 passes for 85 with a scoring toss and an interception. Jaylan Brown added 52 yards rushing and two scores on just seven carries, while Morsello Hooker hauled in a 29-yard touchdown pass, Xavier Zepeda yanked down a 21-yard reception and Carson Noe led the way with three grabs for 18 yards.

“We have to make sure we control the clock, we can’t get behind the chains and we can’t turn the ball over,” Burnett said. “We have to maximize our touches on offense and make sure we don’t leave the field without scoring some kind of points. To do that we need to see more consistency and that starts with not as many busted assignments up front and engaging blocks because we came off some blocks a little early. I also want to see the running backs make sure they’re picking up their protections, the receivers running the proper routes and the quarterback making the right reads. We did a good job of that for that most part, we did have some accuracy issues with the quarterback but he’s been working hard on that trying to get on top of the ball and not release it high. From an execution standpoint, we have to continue to step up a rung on the ladder and look better this week than we did last week.”

Offensively, Marble Falls produced 423 yards with 380 coming on the ground out of its slot-T attack, but the Mustangs lost three fumbles. Joaquin Aguilar scored on a 63-yard scamper that staked Marble Falls to an early 6-0 lead and added a 12-yard touchdown to cap the scoring, along with a 2-point conversion carry by Jaime Castillo. Quarterback Noah Luckie and tailback Dominic Fierro were also key offensive weapons for the Mustangs.

“They aren’t a big play offense unless you aren’t disciplined,” Burnett said. “They’re going to have a lot of eye candy, do a lot of things to try and confuse you to make you lose track of the football, so you have to read your keys and Connally did a good job of that. They only gave up one or two big plays. Marble Falls is different dynamically. Their quarterback they had last year is now playing a slot running back position. He’s a really good athlete. They’re still big up front with two really good guards and a tackle that last year was pretty dominant.”

The Lions’ defense allowed just two touchdowns last week and 320 yards, including a mere 78 yards rushing on 32 carries – 2.4 yards per attempt. Standouts included Sam Kallman (18 tackles, 1 for loss, 2 sacks), Noah Gonzalez (12 tackles, 2 for loss), Steve Ramirez (11 tackles, 1 INT), Jordyn Nickerson (9 tackles, 1 PBU), Hayden Noe (7 tackles, 1 PBU), Brown (6 tackles, 1 for loss), Jake Jetton (6 tackles), Julius Lara (5 tackles, 2 sacks), and Weston Wolf (4 tackles, 1 for loss).

Friday’s contest will feature a battle of strengths between the Marble Falls run game and the Lions’ run defense.

“Their offense fits into what we’re really good at it on defense, but if you let them confuse you and deceive you, they will,” Burnett said. “It’d be real nice to stop the run and get them out of what they want to do. And we have to remember that with this style of offense you may not make a tackle and some other guy may have 12, but because you did what you did they were allowed to make those tackles.”

The Lions are dealing with a multitude of injuries as Logan McKibben is out of action for several weeks after suffering bruised kidney in the season opener. Game time decisions include Le (knee), Miller (ankle), Ramirez (ankle) and Kallman (shoulder).

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Brownwood is a 38-point favorite.

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Brownwood Lions 2023 Football Season Stats

Through 1 Game (1-0)

TEAM OFFENSE

35.0 points per game (35)

332.0 yards per game (332)

247.0 rushing yards per game (247)

85.0 passing yards per game (85)

53.3 completion percentage (8 of 15)

PASSING

* Ike Hall

8 of 15 for 85 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

RUSHING

* Ike Hall

168 yards on 15 carries, 2 TDs

* Jaylan Brown

52 yards on 7 carries, 2 TDs

* Levi Pearson

15 yards on 11 carries

* Logan McKibben

12 yards on 4 carries

RECEIVING

* Carson Noe

3 catches, 18 yards

* Morsello Hooker

1 catch, 29 yards, TD

* Xavier Zepeda

1 catch, 21 yards

* Weston Wolf

1 catch, 11 yards

*Aaron Edmonds

1 catch, 4 yards

* Hayden Noe

1 catch, 2 yards

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TEAM DEFENSE

21.0 points per game (21)

320.0 yards per game (320)

78.0 rushing yards per game (78)

242.0 passing yards per game (242)

54.0 opponents completion percentage (20 of 37)

TACKLES

* Sam Kallman

18 tackles, 1 for loss, 2 sacks

* Noah Gonzalez

12 tackles, 2 for loss

* Steve Ramirez

11 tackles, 1 INT

* Jordyn Nickerson

9 tackles, 1 PBU

* Hayden Noe

7 tackles, 1 PBU

* Jaylan Brown

6 tackles, 1 for loss

* Jake Jetton

6 tackles

* Julius Lara

5 tackles, 2 sacks

*Weston Wolf

4 tackles, 1 for loss

* Morsello Hooker

3 tackles, 1 INT, 1 PBU

* Quinten McCarty

3 tackles

* Cole Miller

3 tackles

* Robert Trowbridge

2 tackles

* Davis Le

1 tackle

* Xavier Zepeda

1 tackle

* Kenyan McDowell

1 tackle

* Case Burnett

1 tackle

* Zakk Zebecki

1 tackle

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KICKING

* Junior Martinez

0 of 0 FGs

5 of 5 PATs

5 points

5 punts, 201 yards, 40.2 average – long of 52; 1 inside opponents’ 5

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TURNOVER MARGIN (0)

* Brownwood: 2 (1 fumble, 1 interception)

* Opponents: 2 (2 interceptions)

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PENALTIES

* Brownwood: 8 for 60 yards (8 for 60 per game)

* Opponents: 11 for 75 yards (11 for 75 per game)