One of the most storied rivalries in Texas high school football will have even higher stakes this Friday, as the Brownwood Lions and Stephenville Yellow Jackets meet for the 85th time with sole possession of first place and the District 4-4A Division I championship at stake.

Kickoff between the Harris Ratings Weekly Class 4A Division I No. 1 Yellow Jackets (8-0, 2-0) and the Lions (5-3, 2-0), winners of four straight contests who appear at No. 12 in this week’s 4A Division I Harris Ratings, is set for 7:30 p.m. at Gordon Wood Stadium.

After starting their first season under head coach Jeryl Brixey with one victory in the first four outings, the Lions have not been defeated since Sept. 19, and have collected league victories over Lampasas (42-39) and Burnet (38-7) in the process.

“Going way back to this summer I thought if we could go 3-3 in non-district and get those first two wins going into the Stephenville game and be playing for a district championship, I feel like we’d really done some good stuff,” Brixey said. “Now it’s here and you feel like things maybe could have been even better. But I tell the kids all time, the thing you will hear the most from me is that it was good, but. Things can always be better, but we’re in a position now where we can go play for a district championship Friday night and that’s a good position to be in.”

Stephenville, meanwhile, has dominated the competition from the word go in 2025. In district play, the Yellow Jackets hammered Lampasas, 49-7, in a game called at halftime last week due to the weather, to go along with a 65-7 triumph over Marble Falls. Stephenville also owns victories over Abilene Wylie (52-13) and Waco La Vega (64-28), teams that defeated Brownwood earlier in the year.

“I haven’t spent a lot of time watching Stephenville in the past, but I have heard people say this may be the best Stephenville team they’ve ever had,” Brixey said. “I don’t know about that, but I do know they’re a dang good football team. You give credit where it’s due, but we’ve reached the point where we’re a good football team. The challenge for the kids this week is an intense week of getting better because by the time 7:30 p.m. rolls around Friday night we have to be a dang good football team. Then we’ll go get after it and see how things work out. I’m excited to play Stephenville and find out where we’re at.”

Stephenville enters the contest averaging 47 points and 441 yards – 239 passing and 202 rushing – per outing.

The Yellow Jackets offense is sparked by quarterback Trot Jordan (97 of 143, 1,675 yards, 24 TDs, 1 INT), while leading receivers include Brighton DeVivo (30-619, 9 TDs), Adan Jergins (24-439, 4 TDs), and Caden Monk (23-433, 6 TDs). The ground game is anchored by Zyler McClendon (927 rushing yards, 14 TDs) and Carter VanZandt (421 rushing yards, 5 TDs).

“Their quarterback is probably the best one we’ve seen this year,” Brixey said. “He has a super quick release. They run the RPO game and they’re outstanding at it. They’ve got a good corps of wide receivers and they spread it between three different kids. Their offensive line is solid and good all the way across. They have a fast running back whose a shifty kid and if you let him loose he has a chance to house it on you. It’s going to be a big challenge for us defensively in containing them.”

Brownwood counters with a defense that allows 23 points and 235 yards – 125 passing and 110 rushing – per contest, but has forced 19 takeaways, including 12 interceptions.

Standouts include Caven Webster (62.5 tackles, 2 for loss, 3 interceptions), Brinson Martin (62 tackles, 7 for loss, 3.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery), Wyatt Wolf (48.5 tackles, 3 interceptions), Christian Gray (43.5 tackles, 8 for loss, 6.5 sacks), Isaac Gonzales (43.5 tackles, 3 for loss, 2.5 sacks), Durham Brown (40.5 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 fumble recovery), Sirr Beam (25 tackles, 1 for loss, 2 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery), Nick Rodriguez (23.5 tackles, 1 for loss, 3 interceptions), and Raul Eberhardt (22 tackles, 1 for loss, 2 sacks, 1 fumble recovery).

On the flip side of the ball, the Brownwood offense generates 28 points and 261 yards – 158 through the air and 103 on the ground – per contest, with 18 turnovers.

Behind the line of Gustavo Gonzalez, Aidan Packheiser, Aviud Gomez, Jackson Rainey and Rylan Martin, quarterback Judson Coalson has completed 75 of 127 passes for 1,266 yards with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. Leading receivers include Carson Noe (36-685, 9 TDs), Connor Cornelius (10-171, 3 TDs), Raven Prado (6-70) and Grant Gray (5-144, 2 TDs). The rushing attack is sparked by Levi Pearson (399 yards, 2 TDs) and Trent Buffington (365 yards, 4 TDs).

Stephenville’s defense is yielding just 10 points per game on average with 23 sacks and 14 takeaways.

Leading the charge for the Yellow Jackets are Caleb Taylor (74 tackles, 9 for loss, 2 sacks), Hudson Butchee (71 tackles, 9 for loss, 4 sacks, 1 fumble recovery), Briar Floyd (52 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack, 2 interceptions), CJ Spellmeier (47 tackles, 13 for loss, 6 sacks), Kolson Tomlinson (40 tackles, 3 for loss), and Kolton Dearth (38 tackles, 13 for loss, 1 fumble recovery).

“Their d-line is big,” Brixey said. “They have a tackle going to Army that’s 6-1, 310 pounds and he’s a handful. They’ve got a defensive end that’s 6-5, 220 pounds that’s a big, rangy kid, and another defensive end that’s super fast, a track kid. They a run a 4-2-5, they line up where they’re supposed to line up and you’re going to have to beat them, because they’re not going to beat themselves. They don’t turn people loose and give up a lot of big plays, we’re going to have to put drives together and move the football down the field. We’re going to have to be successful throwing the football and be able to run the ball and get consistent gains in that regard and create some plays. It’s going to be 48 minutes of hard-fought football.”

According to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, Brownwood is a 29-point underdog. Harris Ratings Weekly lists the Lions as 27-point underdogs this week.

“Our kids are ready, excited about the opportunity and excited about what kind of crowd there’s going to be,” Brixey said. “The old saying is if you’re going to be the best you have to beat the best, and when we come out of the game Friday night we’ll know more about ourselves, where we’re at, and where we need to get to, win or lose. If our ultimate goal is play for a state championship and compete at that level year in and year out, you have to always, regardless of the outcome of any individual game, improve and get better.”