7-on-7 Lions eliminated in opening round of bracket play by Tyler Chapel Hill

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COLLEGE STATION – The Brownwood Lions’ stay at the 7-on-7 Division II state tournament ended in their opening game of the 32-team championship bracket Friday morning at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex, where they fell to Tyler Chapel Hill by a 25-7 count.

The Lions finished the tournament with an 0-4 mark, but their opponents in 2024 combined for a 46-10 record as all four foes collected at least 10 wins and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. Along with Friday’s outing, the Lions came up short against Bay City (27-0), Austin LBJ (27-6) and reigning 4A Division I state finalist Kilgore (14-7) in a weather-shortened game Thursday.

We were able to compete against four really athletic, good programs and fought and got better,” said Lions first-year head coach Jeryl Brixey. “The kids through all this got a lot closer. We’re trying to teach them how to be positive with each other. I tell them the only one that has permission to be negative is me and the coaches. If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all, and that’s one of the things we’re trying to do with these boys, get them to where all they are is positive with each other. I want to them to build each other up and not tear each other down, and they’re getting really good at that and I appreciate that.”

In Friday’s contest, the Lions grabbed a 7-6 lead over Chapel Hill after their first possession as Judson Coalson connected with Grant Gray – playing in his first tournament of the summer after battling injuries – and Levi Pearson added the extra-point grab.

Coalson completed 16 of 23 passes with one touchdown and one interception, and Riggs Gray was 1 of 2 in limited duty. Gray’s eight receptions led all Lions followed by three each from Pearson and Aaron Edmonds, two from Conner Cornelius and one by Sirr Beam.

I felt like this morning we came out, really for the first time this year in an early game, and competed and got after it,” Brixey said. “I was a little disappointed because in all honesty we had a chance to win that game. We had multiple opportunities in the four-down territory and didn’t quite get it done. At least three times this morning, us not going to compete for a football, waiting for it to come to us, cost us touchdowns. That’s a learning experience and sometimes the only way to learn is through experience. I’d rather get that experience now than against Abilene Wylie in Week 1.”

Trailing 12-7, the Lions made three consecutive defensive stops – two on interceptions by Raven Prado and Nick Rodriguez – but the Brownwood offense was unable to find the end zone again. Chapel Hall tacked on a pair of second-half touchdowns to pull away.

Defensively, the Lions witnessed the opposition reach the end zone on 14 of 20 drives, but did come up with the two turnovers in Friday’s finale.

We played really hard and really well this morning,” Brixey said of the defense. “Yesterday we had some communication issues but I felt like that was better today. If we learned some lessons out of all of this, then we got the good out of it.”

Brownwood scored on 1 of 7 possessions Friday and 3 of 21 drives throughout the tournament, with a dozen four-second calls – the equivalent of a sack in 7-on-7. Over the four games, Coalson was 45 of 76 through the air with three scoring tosses and one pick, and leading receivers were Gray with 13 grabs and two scores, Edmonds with eight catches, Cornelius with seven, Beam with six and a touchdown, Pearson with five, Carson Noe with four, Prado with a pair, and KeShaun White hauled in a reception as well.

There’s some things that a year from now we’ll be better at, and better at understanding the concepts,” Brixey said, referencing the installation of an entirely new offense ahead of the 2025 campaign. “They’re doing stuff that’s new to them that we haven’t, in all honesty, spent a lot of time working on because it’s not a huge part of what we do. In our spring and summer drills we work on the bread and butter of what we do, so this hasn’t gotten much attention other than at 7-on-7. There’s things we would do differently a year from now as far as how to attack some of these coverages, but I feel like offensively we learned that we can’t hold on to the football and we have to go compete for the football.”

Preseason practice for the Lions in their first season under Brixey begins Monday, Aug. 4.

Frisco Panther Creek went on to capture the 7-on-7 Division II state crown over Kilgore, 32-26.