Brownfield and Denver City set to clash in district opener

We enter into week seven in Texas High School Football and for Brownfield, Homecoming has come and gone, and all pre-district games are over leaving the Cubs 3-3 and now they’ll be heading into district action tomorrow night against a 2-3 Denver City squad. In a sense, it’s like a new season will begin when kickoff happens at 7:00 p.m.

The last time the Cubs beat the Mustangs was eight years in 2015 winning 33-14. Since that time, they lost 23-19 in 2016, 16-12 in 2017, 3-0 in 2018, 44-14 in 2019, 33-13 in 2020, 37-23 in 2021, and 28-21 last season. Of course, last year’s game was at Denver City with about a two-hour lightning delay, and the game was played in the rain. Some folks, like myself, believe if the game had begun on time and it wasn’t wet, the Cubs most likely would come out victorious, but we all know that is not how the script was written for them.

Last week Denver City was down 14-0 in the first quarter, however, the game was canceled due to lighting. Brownfield on the other hand was able to play 90% of their game against Muleshoe. This will be the second year in a row that the Mustangs come into district with a losing record, last season they were 2-4, this year they are 2-3 and did not get as many reps and playing time as the Cubs did last week.

The Cubs got down pretty quickly in the first quarter last week to Muleshoe and were down 26-0 with 7:25 left in the first half, however, they picked up the pace. The Cubs would rally and score 14 unanswered points going into halftime. When the second half began, the Mules did not let up scoring another 22 points, and mostly by the run. Denver City is a lot like the three teams Brownfield has lost to, they like to run the ball. Even though the Cubs beat Post in week one, it was a very close matchup and the Antelopes scored their points on the run. Of the three games the Cubs have lost a total of 15 rushing touchdowns were made, Roosevelt with 6, Littlefield with 4, and Muleshoe with 5. Denver City only shows one game with stats, and that was against Lovington NM. The Mustangs had 313 yards on the ground and 5 rushing touchdowns.

Brownfield’s defense will need to stop Denver City’s run game and force them to throw. No penalties and no mistakes, and the Cubs got this. The Cubs are averaging right at 30 points a game whereas the Mustangs are averaging 27 points a game. Brownfield has been allowing an average of 35 points a game, and Denver City has been allowing 33 points a game. However, all these stats might be thrown out because when it comes to district rivals, anything can happen.

Brownfield Cubs vs Denver City Mustangs @ Brownfield, Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, 7:00 p.m. kickoff

Current Dist. 1-3A DI Standings