TUSCOLA – The Brownwood Lions concluded their 7-on-7 campaign at the Jim Ned qualifier Saturday where they dropped their first game to Mineral Wells, defeated Clyde, and led Stephenville when a lightning delay led to the cancellation of their final contest.

Having fallen to Mineral Wells earlier – which had a multi-touchdown lead late on Clyde in the final round of pool play – the Lions could not surpass the Rams in the final Pool B results, thus the decision was agreed upon for the Brownwood-Stephenville game to end with 12 minutes left after a thunderstorm moved into the area, forcing a weather delay. Stephenville could not advance out of pool play having already qualified for the 7-on-7 Division II state tournament in College Station June 25-26.

“Overall, I felt like we got better through the course of 7-on-7,” said Lions second-year head coach Jeryl Brixey, who observed Saturday’s action. “This was our last qualifying tournament since we’re not going to be going to the state tournament, but it was good time spent for our kids to get better and learn how to compete. All in all, it’s a positive experience for them.”

The Lions scored on 9 of 15 possessions, or 60 percent, as quarterback Riggs Gray connected on 41 of 62 tosses with nine touchdowns and only one interception.

Leading receivers were Aiden Jimenez with 10 grabs and two touchdowns; Trent Buffington with nine receptions and four scores; Sirr Beam with eight catches and two trips to the end zone; KeShaun White with six receptions; Conner Cornelius with three grabs and a score; Brody Bolton with three receptions; and Gus Stegemoller and Garrett Wilkerson each hauled in a catch.

“Riggs improved greatly and he’s going to be a really good quarterback for us,” Brixey said. “He has the added pressure in 7-on-7 of calling his own plays. Sirr Beam really asserted himself as a receiver and KeShaun White grew up and made a lot of plays.”

On the defensive side of the ball, the Lions surrendered touchdowns on 8 of 14 possessions, or 57 percent, with three interceptions – two from Hutton Malone and one by Kasyn Wooten. Brownwood was playing without Wyatt Wolf and Hudson Deen in the secondary Saturday.

“Defensively, we had some guys out of roles that they’re used to, like Trent Buffington was back playing safety today, but they stepped in and that makes you feel good about how we’ll be able to provide each side with depth this year,” Brixey said.

In the 20-13 finale against Stephenville, the Lions trailed 13-0 but rallied to grab a 14-13 lead at halftime. Gray connected with Beam on the first touchdown and Buffington on the second, while White and Wilkerson added the extra-point catches.

Brownwood then scored on the first possession of the second half – a touchdown toss from Gray to Jimenez – before the teams decided to end the game after the second lightning delay of the afternoon commenced.

The Lions also picked up a 19-14 triumph over Clyde as Gray and Beam connected on a touchdown on the first drive. The score was 7-6 in favor of the Lions at halftime, and Brownwood extended the advantage to 13-6 on another scoring connection between Gray and Jimenez.

Clyde answered with a touchdown and two-point conversion to snatch a 14-13 advantage, but Gray found a wide open Cornelius for a 45-yard touchdown with just over 90 seconds left, propelling the Lions to the win.

For the second week in a row, the Lions fell to Mineral Wells – this time by a 26-20 count – as the Rams scored on their first four possessions, and ran out the clock on the last.

Buffington caught all three touchdown passes from Gray in the opener, while Beam and Cornelius added the two successful extra-point receptions.

“For whatever reason, in 7-on-7 against Mineral Wells we don’t tend to play very well,” Brixey said. “That was frustrating because we’re better than what we exhibited there. Last week we played Graham really well and won and today we’re playing Stephenville really well and were ahead when it was called. We need to play that way regardless of who it’s against.”

The Lions open preseason practice on Monday, Aug. 3, with the 2026 football season opener slated for Friday, Aug. 28 at Abilene Wylie.

Between now and then, Brixey said, “We start skills and strength and conditioning Monday, and it’s six weeks of trying to get bigger, stronger, faster and better at what we do.”