Football Recap: Jaden Thurston and Brayden Brown Pace Burleson Defense

Burleson lost against Mansfield Summit back in September of 2024, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. The Elks took a 34-30 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Jaguars. While losing is never fun, the Elks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 260th, while the Jaguars are ranked 115th).

Despite the loss, Burleson still got an impressive performance from Andrew Sparks, who rushed for 116 yards and a pair of scores, and also threw for 146 yards on 11 of 26 attempts.

Brayden Brown

Total Tackles

09/19/25 vs Mansfield Summit	5
09/11/25 @ Seguin	6
09/04/25 vs Cleburne	9
08/29/25 @ Centennial	7

Burleson didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Jaden Thurston and Brayden Brown. Brown is also crushing it when it comes to total tackles: he's made at least five every time he's taken the field this season. Another thorn in Mansfield Summit's side was Donya Armstrong, who made 13 total tackles (4.0 for loss).

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Mansfield Summit to victory, but perhaps none more so than Ian Gebhardt, who rushed for 138 yards and two TDs on only 13 carries, and also threw for 111 yards and one touchdown. Another player making a difference was Adarion Nettles, who rushed for 153 yards and a pair of scores while picking up 8.5 yards per carry.

This is the second loss in a row for Burleson and nudges their season record down to 2-2. As for Mansfield Summit, they now have a winning record of 2-1.

Coincidentally, Burleson and Mansfield Summit will both be playing Grapevine the next time they take the field. The Jaguars will host the Mustangs at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, while the Elks will head out to face them at 7:00 p.m. on October 3.