It was a game to remember, not every high school player gets the chance to compete in a pro stadium, but Brownwood Lions defeated the Fort Worth All Saints Episcopal School 59-13 as they went head to head Thursday night at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington.
The crowd was amazing with approximately 9000 (possibly more) in attendance. Brownwood was estimated to have around 7000 spirit filled fans cheering them on in the stands.
It usually doesn’t take Brownwood much time to score. Thursday was no exception. Before the end of the first quarter, Brownwood already had 28 points on the board. By the end of the first half, they had an impressive 45 points.
The Brownwood Lions launched its offensive explosion in this bigtime game with a bigtime touchdown to jump on the board first against All Saints Episcopal (Ft. Worth) at Cowboys Stadium.
Jaxon Shipley kicked things off with an impressive diving catch on a long bomb from quarterback Graylon Brown 2 minutes into the first quarter. A few minutes later, safety Luke Chastain picked off an All Saints pass to setup a 6-yard Stehl Ratliff touchdown run. Just minutes into the game, Brownwood was already up 14-0.
The Shipley-Brown connection wasn’t done in the 1st quarter. They’d strike again with an 80-yard TD with just 1:55 left in the 1st quarter to make it Brownwood 21 – All Saints 0.
The defense wanted in on the scoring action as well. Minutes after going up 21 to zip, Vance McShan intercepted a ball and ran it back 56 yards for a Brownwood touchdown to stretch the lead to 28 points.
The second quarter began much like the first quarter ended — with a Brownwood touchdown. Cade Johnson caught a short reception to lead the Lions to a dominating 35-0 lead.
However, it wasn’t all Brownwood in the first half. With about 8 minutes left in the 2nd quarter, All Saints put its first points on the board with a 40-yard touchdown pass. Brownwood was able to block the extra point attempt to keep the game at 35-6.
Stehl Ratliff immediately answered back showing All Saints who was in charge of this game. A 42-yard Ratliff run setup a short Levi Perez scamper from 2 yards out to extend the Lions’ lead to 42-6.
The Lions would score once more before the end of the half. With just a couple minutes left in the 2nd quarter, Brownwood marched down the field and scored again on a Dylan Ellis field goal. It was Ellis’ first of the season. The additional three points made it 45-6.
The second half simply continued what the Lions started in the first part of the game. Jaxon Shipley kicked off the 3rd quarter by catching his third touchdown pass of the night to extended the lead to 52-6.
As the 3rd quarter came to a close, many of Brownwood’s younger players had the opportunity to step onto the field at Cowboys Stadium. And just because the backups entered the game, didn’t mean the scoring stopped. Cameron Deal scored his 3rd touchdown of the season to inch Brownwood near 60 points scored on the evening.
Before the end of the game, All Saints would strike again. However, the touchdown barely made a dent in what the Lions were able to accomplish. They dominated the competition at the most talked-about football stadium in America.
Playing at Cowboys Stadium on a Thursday evening is something the Lions won’t soon forget. The players filed onto the field around 4 p.m. and looked wide-eyed as they looked around at the massive structure and mammoth video screen. Many brought cell phones onto the field to snap shots of the stadium to send back to friends and family.
An amazing stadium — an amazing performance to match.
Click the photo gallery below for photos from the game
{phocagallery view=category|categoryid=208|
limitstart=0|limitcount=1|detail=0|displayname=1|
displaydetail=1|imageshadow=shadow1}
