The Brownwood Lions were dominated from the second quarter onward Friday night, falling 54-6 to the Springtown Porcupines at Gordon Wood Stadium after entering the game with renewed confidence from a near-upset of defending state champion Stephenville.
Brownwood, now 1-2, managed only 15 yards and one first down in the first half while Springtown built a 35-0 lead. The Porcupines, also 1-2, finished with 519 total yards and controlled nearly every phase of the game.
Springtown turns early advantage into blowout
Springtown opened with a 10-play, 67-yard drive that used 3:27 and ended when quarterback Kaine Hill ran 13 yards for a touchdown. Brownwood briefly had an opportunity after taking over at the Springtown 35-yard line following an 18-yard punt late in the first quarter, but the drive lost two yards and ended with a missed 54-yard field-goal attempt with 1:29 remaining in the period.
The Porcupines then scored four times in the second quarter. Jett Bryant finished a seven-play, 63-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. Hill added a 22-yard scoring run after a 51-yard drive, Teagan Hair scored on a 1-yard dive following a 35-yard possession, and Hill connected with Pilot Grubis on a 12-yard touchdown pass after Springtown moved 32 yards in two plays.
Springtown entered halftime with 309 yards and 16 first downs. Brownwood had 15 yards and one first down. The field-position gap was also significant: Springtown’s first-half drives began at its own 46-yard line on average, while Brownwood generally started at its own 19, apart from the possession that began at the Springtown 35.
Lions find one late touchdown
Brownwood showed a few signs of life to open the third quarter. Isaac Gonzales broke a 32-yard run, but the drive stalled at the Springtown 25, and a 42-yard field-goal attempt went wide right.
Hill scored again on a 5-yard run with 2:20 left in the third quarter. Bryant added a 3-yard touchdown run at 7:20 of the fourth, and Hair scored on a 2-yard run with 2:46 remaining.
The Lions avoided a shutout on their final possession, traveling 72 yards in five plays. Riggs Gray completed the drive with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Brody Bolton with 46 seconds left. It was the first varsity touchdown pass for Gray and the first varsity touchdown reception for Bolton.
Brownwood finished with 149 total yards, including 87 rushing and 62 passing. Trent Buffington led the Lions’ ground game with 61 yards on 23 carries, while Gonzales added 31 yards on two attempts. Gray completed 4 of 16 passes for 62 yards, and Bolton caught two passes for 53 yards.
Springtown produced 302 rushing yards and 217 passing yards. Hill accounted for 122 rushing yards and three touchdowns while completing 16 of 23 passes for another score. Hair rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns, and Bryant ran for 62 yards and two touchdowns. Grubis caught three passes for 46 yards and a touchdown, while Hayden Murrell had three receptions for 75 yards.
Coach points to preparation before Graham trip
Brownwood head coach Jeryl Brixey said the team’s preparation and mindset did not meet the standard required for the game.
“This is on me because we had problems starting on Monday and I didn’t fix them,” said Lions second-year head coach Jeryl Brixey. “We had problems in how we were practicing, we had problems in our attitude, and I didn’t get it fixed. I felt like we weren’t ready to play, and it’s my job to get us fixed and get us ready to play. Maybe we felt like we were a whole lot better than what we are and all we needed to do to win this game was show up. And once we were down 14-0 I think we threw in the towel and called it a night. That’s a really good football team that was 0-2 to some really good football teams. I think we read more into that than there was. We just have to go back to the drawing board and figure things out.”
The Lions now begin back-to-back road games to close their pre-district schedule. Brownwood will visit Class 4A Division II No. 10 Graham, which entered the matchup 3-0 after defeating Class 3A Division I No. 3 Paradise, 32-21, on Friday night.