The Brownwood Lions defeated one of the top teams in their district, the Burnet Bulldogs, 36-31 in the final seconds of Friday night’s game.
Knowing that Burnet had a strong defense and explosive offense, Brownwood Head Coach Chuck Howard and his coaching staff took advantage of their two weeks between games and made practice count. Howard stated that his coaching staff did a lot of special teams training, and made daily improvements on both offense and defense, which showed Friday night.
At the half, Brownwood was leading 27-14. Howard stated that he was proud of the team and that the defense was playing well.
“The kids are playing hard,” said Howard. “It’s going to be a good second half.”
It was obvious that Burnet made a few adjustments and held the Lions in their first four possessions of the second half. Burnet scored two touchdowns and took the lead at 27-28 in the 4th quarter.
The Lions fought hard and eventually set up kicker Abraham Oviedo for a 37 yard field goal, which put them back on top, 30-28. Burnet answered with a 37 yard field goal, retaking the lead by just one point.
On the ensuing kickoff, Connor Howard grabbed the ball 8 yards deep in the end zone, ran to the goal line where he handed the ball to Kaimon Ontiveros who slipped a tackle and made a monstrous 100 yard run for the touchdown to win the game 36-31. Ontiveros and Coach Howard both gave the defense credit for making the “beautiful wall” along the sideline that cleared the way for Ontiveros to sprint to the goal line.
“After I got past that first defender, all I saw was about 7 maroon shirts that had a giant wall down the sideline,” he said. “I knew after I got past that first defender that I was in good shape.”
Ontiveros also had 3 touchdown receptions in the first half of the game.
Howard stated that the team has been practicing different kickoff returns and that it has paid off.
“We’ve had a lot of success with kickoff returns. The kids are really proud of them,” said Howard. He explained further, “We’ve had tremendous field possessions off of our kickoff returns and it’s benefited us well tonight.”
Howard stated that he was very proud of the team and how they have improved.
“We’ve been getting better every week and playing hard,” Howard said. “I’m proud of our kids, their efforts, the way they keep fighting. They are Brownwood Lions.”
Howard appreciated the fan support, stating “I loved the fan support; the team feeds off of that.”
Brownwood goes 3:3 for the season, 1:0 in district play. They will face Liberty Hill next Friday, in another tough district challenge, at Gordon Wood Stadium.
Ontiveros is pictured at top during Friday night’s game. Click the photo gallery below for more pictures from the game. Photos by Ray Tipton.
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Scoring Plays/Highlights:
Q1
8:24 0-7 Burnet’s Blayne Parisher scores on a 5 yard pass on the initial drive of the game. The drive went 70 yards in 8 plays.
8:11 6-7 On the ensuing kickoff, Brian Johnson, out of a tackle, answered with an 81-yard punt return. The 2 point conversion attempt was no good.
1:18 13-7 Kaimon Ontiveros made a 5 yard pass play completing a 42 yard drive in 6 plays.
Q2
7:42 13-14 Burnet’s quarterback Derek Kiser made a 3 yard run after a high snap that he nearly dropped but somehow was able to dive into the end zone. This completed a 47 yard drive in 6 plays.
7:08 20-14 Kaimon Ontiveros made a 72 yard pass play for the touchdown along with sidelines, completing a 3 play 75 yard drive.
3:47 27-14 After the ensuing kickoff bounced and was recovered by Grant Lewis, a few plays later, Kaimon Ontiveros was able to make a 7 yard pass play for the touchdown.
3Q
7:32 27-21 Burnet’s Trenton Hafley made 5 yard run for the touchdown in a 51 yard drive in 7 plays that took 2:26 off the clock.
3:22 Brian Johnson made an interception; however Brownwood was unable to score during this drive.
8:04 27-28 Trenton Hafley makes the touchdown, completing a 7 play 50 yard drive which took 2:12 off the clock.
2:45 30-28 Brownwood’s Abraham Oviedo makes a 37 yard field goal, completing the 55 yard drive in 7 plays.
0:30 30-31 Burnet’s Austin Huff gets a 36-yard field goal, completing the 50 yard drive in 10 play which took 2:12 off the clock.
0:14 36-31 In the final seconds of the game, Connor Howard grabs the kickoff return 7 yards deep into the end zone, runs to the goal line, where he hands it off to Kaimon Ontiveros who breaks a tackle and makes a 100 yard carry for the touchdown. The two point attempt is no good.
Statistics
———————————–Brownwood ————-Burnet
Total Offense 214 345
Rushing 61 99
Passing 153 246
1st Downs 13 21
Turnovers 3
Penalties 11/90 yards 8/75 yards
Brownwood’s QB Chris Keesee threw 18/23, 153 yards with 3 TDs and no picks.
Burnet’s QB Derek Kiser threw 15/29 for 246 with 1 TD and 1 pick.
