10-31-2008 Sweetwater vs Brownwood

**Kevin** Sun Nov 02, 2008 1:38 am

Sweetwater wins eighth straight in victory over Brownwood

By Evan Ren (Contact)
Saturday, November 1, 2008

BROWNWOOD -- The good news for the Brownwood Lions is that they ran up 589 yards in total offense against Sweetwater on Friday at Gordon Wood Stadium.

The bad news is Sweetwater produced 460 yards rushing and no turnovers in a 56-41 win over the Lions in the Big Country Game of the Week.

Steven Fields rushed for 162 yards and three scores to lead Sweetwater (8-1, 4-0 District 2-3A), which won its eighth straight game and will face Wylie in a winner-take-all district title match in the Mustang Bowl next week.

Brownwood, which scored more than 40 points for the second straight week only to lose, dropped to 3-6 overall and 1-3 in district with the loss.

"We are just honored to have the opportunity to play a great program like Wylie for the district championship," Sweetwater coach Kent Jackson said. "And the great thing about it is, no matter what happens, we'll both play in the (postseason)."

Leading 35-33 heading into the fourth quarter, the Mustangs exploded with 21 unanswered points, beginning with a 30-yard scoring run by B.J. Walker with 10:42 left in the game.

Fields gave Sweetwater control of the contest one possession later, galloping 80 yards for a touchdown to give the Mustangs a 49-33 lead with 7:31 to play.

Sweetwater put the game way when Alex McCoy raced 65 yards through the heart of the Brownwood defense for a 56-33 lead with 2:43 left.

Brownwood closed with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Casey Pachall to Shelby Miller with 1:45 left, after which the pair connected again on a 2-point conversion pass. But the Lions' final score was largely window dressing.

Pachall finished with a whopping 371 yards passing and two scores with no interceptions. But two first-half Lion turnovers, coupled with their inability to stop the Sweetwater running game, proved to be the difference.

"With the kind of offense they have, our goal was to control the football," Sweetwater quarterback Zach Birdwell said. "I think there was, like, two or three drives we didn't score on."

Birdwell's estimate was correct.

The Mustangs found the end zone on eight of 11 possessions, including five of six in the first half.

Pounding out 260 yards rushing and 14 first downs in the first two quarters, Sweetwater carried a 35-26 lead into the break.

Fields scored on runs of 3 and 48 yards in the first quarter, after which Birdwell, Daniel Jackson and Rufus McCann added second-quarter scores from 8, 3 and 5 yards respectively.

Brownwood, which trailed 14-13 heading into the second quarter, opened the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown run by Levi Perez on its first possession. The Lions cut the gap to 1 with 1:52 left in the first when Stehl Ratliff scored on an 18-yard option run.

Brownwood later added a 31-yard touchdown run by Rashad Deal with 6:55 left in the half and a 14-yard touchdown pass from Pachall to Parker Taylor with 33 seconds before the break.

Two early Brownwood turnovers proved crucial, both of which led to Sweetwater scores. The first came with 3:49 left in the first quarter when Keifer Adamez recovered a Pachall fumble at the Lion 48. One play later, Fields scored his second touchdown from 48 yards.

The second Brownwood miscue came with 11:48 left in the half when B.J. Walker recovered a Travis Holleman fumble on a kickoff return at the Lion 34. Six plays later, the Mustangs led 28-13 when Jackson scored from 3 yards out with 8:51 left in the half.

Notes: For the second straight week, Sweetwater didn't attempt a pass. ... In last week's 14-7 win at Snyder, the Mustangs didn't throw once. The last time Sweetwater went to the air was on Oct. 17 against Graham. ... Brownwood racked up 342 yards in total offense in the first half, yet still trailed at the break.

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District 2-3A Standings are as follows
Standings
CONFERENCE - OVERALL
TEAM
W - L - T - PCT - W - L - T - PCT
Sweetwater
4 - 0 - 0 - 1.000 - 8 - 1 - 0 - 0.889
Abilene Wylie
4 - 0 - 0 - 1.000 - 7 - 2 - 0 - 0.778
Snyder
2 - 2 - 0 - 0.500 - 6 - 3 - 0 - 0.667
Brownwood
1 - 3 - 0 - 0.250 - 3 - 6 - 0 - 0.333
Graham
1 - 3 - 0 - 0.250 - 2 - 7 - 0 - 0.222
Breckenridge
0 - 4 - 0 - 0.000 - 1 - 8 - 0 - 0.111