The Brownwood Lions lost Friday night to Abilene Wylie 36-16 in their final football game of the regular season before heading to the playoffs.
What seemed to be an evenly matched, heavily defensive first half turned into what Brownwood Head Coach Bob Shipley considered an unexplainable blowout.
“It’s incredible how you can go from a 10-7 lead at halftime to a blowout like this,” stated Shipley.
Four quarterback sacks in the first quarter seemed promising for the Lions; however the Lions had several turnovers which led to scoring drives for Wylie.
“We had three turnovers and another fumble, which seems to be the underlying theme of the games we’ve lost this year,” stated Shipley. “We were complacent and didn’t come out and play like a house-a-fire. Our kids played uninspired—I’m ashamed of that. I’ll have the kids ready to play Thursday night.”
Being ahead in the first half may have been a contributing factor to the Lions poor second half according to Shipley.
“Being ahead, that could have been it. Our guys got complacent and they gave it to us…and we took it,” said Shipley. “Wylie came to play four quarters of football and we didn’t. They’ve got a little more heart and desire than we do and that is frustrating.”
The Lions had 297 total yards of offense compared to 320 for Wylie. Although many of the stats were evenly matched for the game, the turnovers made the obvious difference.
Another possible problem facing the Lions in the second half were injuries to starting defensive players. Shipley did not know the extent of their injuries but said that he did not think there were any broken bones.
According to Shipley, although this was a devastating loss, the Lions “have to get over this loss quick.” Although the first playoff game is scheduled on Thursday, the team will not lose any practice time.
The Lions head the playoffs with a 6-4 record on the season. Their first playoff game will be played at 7:30pm in Breckenridge against Bowie High School Thursday, November 10th.
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Scoring Summary and Highlights:
First Quarter
2:43 Lions get two QB sacks in a row at the end of a scoreless first quarter.
Second Quarter
9:21 3-0 Matthew McCrane kicks a 15 yd field goal putting the first point of the game up for Brownwood.
7:00 Stehl Ratliff is hit and loses the ball, Wylie recovers it at their own 34 yard line.
3:12 3-7 A QB sneak takes QB Matt McLeod of Wylie into the end zone for a touchdown, completing a 10 play drive of 34 yards in 3:57 and the extra point is good.
3:00 Cooper Howey gets a 44 yard return to begin the Lions’ next scoring drive.
0:29 10-7 Stehl Ratliff completes a 2:53 drive for a 1 yard touchdown and the McCrane extra point is good.
Third Quarter
10:13 10-14 QB McLeod completes the WHS drive with a 1 yard touchdown. BHS McDonald is injured in the play.
7:15 16-14 Kevin Vacarro gets a 14 yard touchdown completing a 2:42, 6 play, 63 yard drive. McCrane’s kick for the extra point is blocked and WHS picks it up and runs the ball to the BHS 20 yard line.
2:57 16-20 TB Garrett Martin plunges for a 1 yard touchdown.
Fourth Quarter
9:18 16-26 Martin completes a 4 yard touchdown, a bad snap keeps Wylie from scoring the extra point.
6:31 Vacarro fumbles and Wylie recovers the fumble.
2:12 16-29 Wylie makes a 30 yard field goal.
1:34 16-36 QB Mitch Stephens’ pass is intercepted by Zach Childress at the WHS 32 yard line. He runs it 62 yards for the touchdown and the extra point is good.
