Cubs Turn Attention to Friona
The Brownfield Cubs showed some encouraging signs offensively Friday night, but they couldn’t snap their skid as Crane came away with a 48-18 win. The loss was Brownfield’s fourth straight and dropped the Cubs to 1-4.
Despite the final score, Brownfield generated more than 300 yards of offense and found success establishing the running game, something Head Coach Lawrence Johnson credited to improved play up front.
“I thought we established the run game, and that started up front with our offensive line,” Johnson said. “We had over 300 yards of offense that was distributed among several players.”
Quarterback Braedyn Davis continued to settle into his role leading the Brownfield offense. Davis threw for 117 yards and a pair of touchdowns while also throwing one interception. Johnson said his confidence continues to grow as he becomes more comfortable directing the offense.
“Braedyn is settling in at quarterback and leading the offense,” Johnson said. “He threw a pair of touchdowns and looks more confident.”
One of Brownfield’s biggest offensive contributors was Braydon Luther, who made an impact both on the ground and through the air. Luther rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown on just six carries, averaging more than 24 yards per attempt. He also added 68 receiving yards and another touchdown.
While the offense showed signs of improvement, Johnson said the Cubs still have work to do defensively, particularly in eliminating explosive plays.
“Our defense can’t allow big plays due to busts in the secondary,” Johnson said.
Those mistakes proved costly against Crane and will be a major focus this week as Brownfield prepares to host Friona. Johnson said the Cubs are emphasizing tempo, urgency, and proper alignment as they prepare for another challenging matchup.
“Big focus on tempo, urgency and alignment this week as we face a really good Friona team,” Johnson said. “Our staff and players are looking forward to the task at hand to see our response.”
For Brownfield, the goal this week is to turn offensive progress into a complete performance across all three phases of the game.
“Our Cubs will have to play four complete quarters and play complementary football in all three phases to have success on the scoreboard,” Johnson said.
Now sitting at 1-4, the Cubs return home looking to respond against Friona and deliver the kind of complete performance Johnson and his staff believe the team is capable of.
DISTRICT 1-3A DI CURRENT RECORDS
Broncos Battle in 76-72 Shootout
The Meadow Broncos turned in their highest-scoring performance of the season Friday night, but their offensive explosion came up just short in a wild 76-72 loss to the Ira Bulldogs.
Meadow put up 72 points, more than double its 34-point output the previous week, but Ira stayed just ahead in the high-scoring contest. The loss was Meadow’s second straight and moved the Broncos to 3-2.
Despite playing short-handed, Meadow continued battling throughout the game. The Broncos entered the contest without three starters and saw that number grow to five unavailable starters by the end of the game.
“I was pleased with our effort and grit shown last week with three starters down and then five by the time the game finished,” Meadow Head Coach Blake Jackson said. “Guys stepped up, and we never quit, just ran out of time.”
Brayson Parker led a huge offensive night for the Broncos, rushing 25 times for 371 yards and eight touchdowns. Parker also contributed defensively with nine tackles.
Pancho Arita helped Meadow on both sides of the ball. Arita completed four of 11 passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns while adding 11 tackles and an interception on defense.
EJ Piedra totaled 60 all-purpose yards, caught a touchdown pass, and also made his presence felt defensively with 11 tackles and an interception.
The performances helped Meadow remain within striking distance throughout a game in which both offenses consistently found ways to reach the end zone.
Now the Broncos will turn their attention toward getting healthy and rebuilding some momentum as district play approaches.
“Expectations this week are to hopefully get a couple guys back and build some momentum back and keep getting better as we get ready to head into district,” Jackson said.
At 3-2, Meadow has already shown it can put points on the scoreboard. The next step will be getting some injured players back on the field, continuing to build depth, and using the coming week to prepare for games that will carry even more weight once district competition begins.
Friday’s loss may have gone into the record book as a defeat, but the Broncos’ ability to keep battling despite being short-handed gave Jackson and his staff plenty to build on.
Wildcats Fight Hard Against Klondike
It was a true cat-fight Friday night as the Wellman-Union Wildcats squared off with the No. 11 Klondike Cougars. In the end, Klondike pulled away for a 78-32 victory over the Wildcats.
The 32-point output marked Wellman-Union’s lowest-scoring performance of the season as the Wildcats ran into one of the stronger teams on their schedule. The loss dropped Wellman-Union to 2-3.
Despite the final score, Head Coach Brett Labadie came away encouraged by the effort and fight his team showed throughout the matchup.
“Dudes flat-out battled last night! Super proud of them!” Labadie said.
That effort will be important as the Wildcats continue working through a challenging stretch. Wellman-Union has dropped 11 of its last 14 games dating back to last season, but this year’s group has already shown signs of growth with two victories through its first five games.
Facing a highly ranked Klondike team also gave the Wildcats another opportunity to measure themselves against strong competition and identify areas that will need improvement as the season moves forward.
The focus now shifts to regrouping, continuing to clean up mistakes and building on the toughness Labadie saw from his players Friday night. For Wellman-Union, the goal will be to turn that effort into more consistent execution on both sides of the football.
At 2-3, the Wildcats still have plenty of season remaining and another opportunity ahead to respond. If they can keep up the same fight Labadie praised after Friday’s game, Wellman-Union will use the Klondike matchup as another step in its development as the season progresses.
DISTIRCT 4-1A DII CURRENT RECORDS
Week 6 Texas High School Football Ranking
TownTalk Media uses Dave Campbell’s Texas Football as the primary source for its weekly high school football rankings. After the preseason polls are released, the rankings move to a Top 10 format in every classification except Class 6A.
For six-man football, TownTalk Media uses two different ranking sources. Based on feedback from local six-man coaches, many consider SixManFootball.com the more accurate ranking system, so we include its Top 25 rankings. We also continue to use Dave Campbell’s Texas Football (TexasFootball.com), which publishes a Top 10 for six-man football.
NOTE: In Classes 6A through 3A, Region I teams are shown highlighted in yellow. In Classes 2A and 1A, teams shown highlighted in yellow are Region I teams, while teams highlighted in blue are from Region II.
