The Brownwood Lions beat the Salado Eagles 44-20 on Friday night at Gordon Wood Stadium in their District 13-4A Division II home and regular season finale. Brownwood trailed by a touchdown after the first quarter, then scored 37 unanswered points. The win was the Lions' third in a row and gives them a 5-5 overall record and a 3-2 district mark. Salado is 4-6 overall and 2-3 in district. The two teams had never met before.
Trent Buffington rushed for 203 yards and three touchdowns. Riggs Gray completed 9 of 12 passes for 151 yards and two touchdown passes to Brody Bolton, who had a team-high 89 receiving yards. Gray also rushed for 36 yards and a touchdown. Brownwood finished with 398 yards of total offense. Brownwood's defense allowed 307 yards, but gave up only one touchdown over the final three quarters. Hudson Deen, Aiden Jimenez and Hutton Malone each had an interception after halftime.
Brixey said the offense played as well as it had all year. Buffington credited his offensive line, saying the linemen 'do their jobs.' Brownwood will face the District 14 runner-up Lago Vista Vikings (8-2) at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, at Mary Hardin-Baylor's Crusader Stadium in Belton. It will be the Lions' 18th consecutive trip to the postseason. Lago Vista beat Austin Achieve 72-0 on Friday night.