Levi Pearson – behind the blocking of offensive line starters Gustavo Gonzalez, Jackson Rainey, Omari McNeal, Ryland Martin and Aviud Gomez – broke free for a 70-yard touchdown jaunt on the second snap of the Brownwood Lions’ second scrimmage of the preseason.

Aside from that, highlights were few and far between for the Lions, as the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football preseason Class 4A Division I No. 10 Alvarado Indians dominated play for the most part Thursday night at Gordon Wood Stadium.

“I think tonight was eye-opening for our kids when you talk about where you have to get to and what you get to done,” Lions first-year head coach Jeryl Brixey said of scrimmaging Alvarado, a 13-1 regional finalist a year ago with five offensive and eight defensive starters returning. “It was probably eye-opening for us as coaches as well to be quite honest. My No. 1 takeaway from tonight is that, as coaches, we have to do a better job and we will. I’m not down on us, I’m not down on our kids, I’m certainly not in any way, shape, form or fashion pleased about the way tonight went, but we’re going to get better and we’re going to get it done. We have to figure out how to play harder and how to play smarter.”

In the controlled portion of the scrimmage, Alvarado scored four touchdowns – two through the air and a pair on the ground – to the Lions’ one. The Indians amassed 305 yards – 192 rushing and 113 passing – to Brownwood’s 129 yards, with 100 coming on the ground, and the Lions also coughed up three fumbles and were sacked on three occasions.

Then in a live half, Alvarado outscored the Lions, 21-0 – reaching the end zone on a 6-yard carry, a 43-yard touchdown pass, and an 83-yard scoring strike.

The Indians were 7 of 8 for 206 yards with two touchdowns through the air, and rushed five times for 23 yards and another score in the live half.

Meanwhile, the Lions ran a total of 12 offensive plays in the live half, finished with -23 total yards, no first downs, three sacks, and four punts for a 35-yard average.

“We played it no holds barred defensively, that was our agreement going into it because I wanted to see how we would do, and we did about how you would think you would do when you have young kids that haven’t played very much up front,” Brixey said. “They were stemming, they were moving, they were shooting gaps, which when you know what you’re doing and you’re good at what you’re doing, you can make people pay for that. When you don’t know what you’re doing, it makes you look like you’re awful, and we looked like we were awful tonight to be quite honest.”

At the end of the night, Alvarado produced 544 yards of total offense to the 106 for Brownwood. The Lions were also penalized 12 times for 72 yards throughout the scrimmage, with 11 coming during the controlled portion, and the Indians were whistled seven times for 60 yards.

Along with Pearson’s scoring jaunt, other offensive right spots included Nick Rodriguez reeling off a 20-yard carry and Trent Buffington chipped in a 12-yard run.

Through the air, Judson Coalson completed passes of 12, 7 and 2 yards to Robbie Robinson out of the backfield, and 10 yards to Conner Cornelius, as Brownwood quarterbacks combined to connect 4 of 11 attempts throughout the evening.

Defensively, Isaac Gonzales netted a tackle for loss during the controlled portion of the scrimmage.

The Lions were playing without linemen Logan Flores and Aidan Packheiser, receiver/defensive back Sirr Beam, and defensive backs Wyatt Wolf, Caven Webster and Finn Hull, who are nursing a variety of injuries.

“We’ve got a ton of injuries right now, some that are nagging and kids will be back, and some of them aren’t,” Brixey said. “Those are things we’re going to have to overcome. We’re going to have to get some kids ready to play that maybe weren’t ready to play, but that’s our job as coaches, to get them there.”

The Lions open the 2025 regular season at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29 at Class 5A Division II Abilene Wylie.

“We’re going to get better and no matter how the scrimmage goes, even if you come out and play really well, you’re going to come back and feel like there’s things you’re going to have to improve,” Brixey said. “It’s a 10-game season and it’s not about where you start. We’re going to go to work, watch video and we’re going to find a lot of what we did wrong and start working on getting those things fixed.”