SPRING BRANCH – Carson Noe returned the game’s opening kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown, and the rout was on as the Brownwood Lions dominated their pre-district finale, a 62-0 victory over the Class 4A Division II Ingleside Mustangs Friday night at Smithson Valley High’s School Ranger Stadium.

“We played well which is what you should do when you’re supposed to beat somebody,” said Lions first-year head coach Jeryl Brixey. “There’s a lot of positives, there are some negatives, so there’s definitely some things we need to work on. But we got through it healthy, we got better, and now we have to get ready for district.”

The Lions (3-3) earned their second consecutive victory, scoring four touchdowns apiece in the first and second periods, while limiting Ingleside (2-4) to negative yardage over the first three quarters.

Brownwood finished with 371 yards of total offense – 194 passing and 177 rushing – with just one turnover, while Ingleside mustered only 36 yards – 66 through the air and -30 on the ground, fueled by six sacks from the Lions defense – and coughed up the ball five times, three on fumbles and two by interception.

“The defense didn’t give up a first down until late in the game, they showed up and played and that’s what you need to do,” Brixey said. “Our kids are doing a good job putting pressure on the quarterback, Brinson Martin, Christian Gray and Raul Eberhardt, a lot of good things are happening. The turnovers are something we need to continue to strive and push for. That’s something (defensive coordinator) Coach (Steve) Fanara builds into practice. They get points in practice for strips, something they work very hard at.”

Judson Coalson completed all eight of his pass attempts for 194 yards with five touchdown tosses. Noe finished with four receptions for 65 yards and reached the end zone two more times, Grant Gray caught both of his passes for 98 yards and scored twice, Connor Cornelius hauled in a 21-yard scoring toss, and Raven Prado pulled down a 10-yard reception.

“Judson’s getting an understanding of what we’re doing and our kids are, too,” Brixey said. “We’re starting to branch out and do some more things that are showing up for us, too. And as I’ve said, the better we get at running the football the better all those things become, and that’s what we’re working on.”

Behind the front line of Gustavo Gonzales, Avuid Gomez, Aidan Packheiser, Jackson Rainey and Rylan Martin, Trent Buffington recorded 111 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns, Nick Rodriguez tacked on 38 yards, and Levi Peason rushed for 36 yards and scored once.

Ingleside was limited to -1 in total yardage through three quarters and did not tally its initial first down of the contest until the midway point of the fourth period.

Raul Eberhardt recorded a team-high two sacks for the Lions while Christian Gray, Durham Brown, Maddox Mendoza and Hayden Fulkersin added one apiece.

Eberhardt also pounced on a fumble, as did Prado and Brown, while Sirr Beam and Finn Hull intercepted passes.

“We’ve got a rhythm going,” Eberhardt said of the defense. “We go into practice and go 100 percent no matter what, and we don’t give up on our pass rush. We keep our motor going and going.”

Following Noe’s kick return, which Brixey called “a good tone setter,” the Lions forced a three-and-out and took over at the Ingleside 46 and needed just two plays to reach the end zone as Coalson connected with Noe from 31 yards out at the 9:22 mark for a 14-0 lead.

The Lions scored again with 7:13 left in the first quarter as, after Brown recovered a fumble, Cornelius caught a 21-yard scoring strike for Coalson for a 21-0 edge.

Then with 4:05 left in the opening stanza, Gray caught a 43-yard touchdown from Coalson to cap a three-play, 54-yard drive that boosted the advantage to 27-0.

“It was great honestly,” Gray, who has battled injuries early this season, said of his first two touchdowns of 2025, “Coach put together a good game plan for us and we executed. That’s all we can ask for. We’re getting some reps in practice and continuing to get better as a team.”

On the first play of the second quarter, Pearson scored on a 2-yard carry for a 34-0 cushion after Prado recovered an Ingleside fumble at the Mustang 20.

Brownwood broke its mark for most points in a game in 2025 at the 8:06 mark of the second period on a 28-yard gallop by Buffington, which stretched the lead to 41-0 after Beam picked off a pass to set up the Lions in Mustang territory again.

“It’s a great experience,” Buffington said of the contributions he’s been able to provide the offense in his first year on the varsity roster. “Confidence-wise I’m feeling better about myself and really have hope for myself throughout the season. We’ve dealt with some problems early with injuries, and it took a while to get used to this new offense, but we’ve overcome that and we can really do some things.”

Another connection from Coalson to Gray for 55 yards was the lone play in Brownwood’s next scoring march, which pushed the lead to 48-0 with 5 minutes left until intermission.

The Lions scored once more before the break as an interception by Hull set up Brownwood at the Mustang 16. Three plays later, Coalson found Noe for a 12-yard scoring toss and a 55-0 halftime advantage, matching the Lions’ 2024 point total against Ingleside.

Brownwood added one second-half touchdown, that at the 6:38 mark of the third period, on a 31-yard sprint by Buffington, for the final 62-point margin.

Next week, the Lions kick off District 4-4A Division I action at home against Lampasas (6-0), which remained undefeated Thursday night with a 42-35 victory over Lorena.

“Lampasas is a good football team,” Brixey said. “I watched a little film on them this week, but they’re 6-0 and going to be a challenge for us. We have to go out and get better every day to start district with a win, and we’ll have to go out and play well to earn it.”