Marble Falls football, Brownwood play for final playoff spot

CAPTION: Marble Falls receiver Kole Becker and the Mustangs head to Brownwood with a playoff berth at stake. Photo by Christopher A. Miles/Christopher A. Miles Photography

The Marble Falls High School football team will play Brownwood at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, for the final playoff spot in the District 4-4A Division I standings.

The game is at Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood.

If the current district standings hold, Stephenville will beat Burnet Nov. 8.

But if Marble Falls beats Brownwood on the road, the Bulldogs, the Lions and the Mustangs all have the same 1-3 record and are tied for third in the standings.

The district tiebreaker states there are no negative points. Because Burnet beat Marble Falls 43-7 in the district opener Oct. 11, the Bulldogs have the maximum 18 points allowed for a victory.

That puts Burnet in playoffs, regardless of their outcome against the Yellow Jackets. Stephenville is the district champion and Lampasas is the runner-up.

That means then the remaining two teams — Marble Falls and Brownwood — would revert to the first tiebreaker, and that’s head-to-head outcome.

The task in front of the Mustangs is a tremendous challenge, head coach Keri Timmerman noted, for a number of reasons.

First, Marble Falls is taking on a program that is seeking its 51st playoff appearance and wanting to qualify for the postseason for the 16th consecutive year. All of that puts Brownwood in the conversation of historical programs in the state. And this year’s version is part of all that.

“They are a good football team,” Timmerman said. “They run and throw the ball well. Their quarterback does a good job.”

Brownwood quarterback Judson Coalson has completed 94 of 159 passes for 1,194 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions and has 48 carries for 223 yards and three scores. Receiver Carson Noe has 34 catches for 446 yards and three touchdown, Aaron Edmonds has 22 catches for 238 yards and three scores, and Grant Gray has 19 catches for 294 yards and three touchdowns.

Timmerman noted Coalson has run-pass option plays and will call zone reads with Matthew Rodriguez, Noah Gonzalez and Levi Pearson in the backfield. Running back Trey Mosley, who transferred to Brownwood from Duncanville, has 110 carries for 681 yards and seven touchdowns. Mosley was listed as a Top 25 freshman in 2022 by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football and holds several collegiate offers.

“They have some explosion,” he said. “They’re well coached and balanced.”

Defensively, the Lions are allowing 28 points and 340 yards a contest. Top tacklers are Brinson Martin with 110 tackles and a sack, Gonzalez with 95 tackles, three for loss, Wyatt Wolf with 72 tackles, Robert Trowbridge with 66 tackles, and Caven Webster with 55 tackles and an interception.

Still, the two programs have a similar issue, Timmerman said.

“They are in the same boat we are,” he said. “They are in a really good district. Their numbers are down a little bit. At times they’ll get a class of 40 and at times you get a class of 32.”

Perhaps the biggest hurdle to the football season continuing for the Mustangs isn’t so much the opponent on the opposite sideline. It’s having the confidence and belief they can win.

“Focus on the game,” Timmerman said. “There’s nothing else. We have to make sure we take care of our jobs and make things happen defensively and get stops and get the ball in the end zone. The biggest issue we’re having is the hangover of what happened two years in a row (in 2022 and 2023). We’re not done and we legitimately can go. They have to put it all together. We haven’t put a game together against a good team. They’re definitely a solid team.”