Bryan's 25-21 loss gave Vikings' head coach Bob Bellard a strange mix of encouragement and disappointment.

"I couldn't be more proud of our football team for us lining up and competing," Bellard said. "I hurt for them because it would have been nice to have the rewards of having a victory."

Bryan held Leander to 271 total yards, a giant step after giving up 628 in the opening game against at Cypress Falls. Bryan did it without defensive back Brian Cune, who sprained his knee in practice and did not suit out.

The Vikings' offense started slowly but had some breakaway plays against Leander. Consistency was what held the Vikings back. Leander's defense had no small role in that.

The first big play came on an option keep by quarterback Kesnick Taylor to set up Bryan's go-ahead touchdown late in the opening half. Taylor gave just the hint of a pitch to find room on the left sideline and sprinted into the secondary. Taylor finished with 99 rushing yards.

"That was one of the times when their free safety [Bradley Tanton] didn't make the tackle," Bellard said. "There were a lot of option plays when the free safety was there. If we handled him better, we'd probably do a good job, but you've got to give it to Leander. They lined up and played sound defensively."

Taylor also dropped a perfect pass into the hands of Krey Bratsen for a fourth-quarter touchdown that gave the Vikings a 21-18 lead.

"That was a great play," Bellard said. "We had a few other opportunities to make plays and either didn't make the catch or didn't make the throw."

Bryan had a chance to take the win on a drive in the last 2 minutes but could not connect on deep passes.

"Even on the last drive, we had a couple of situations where we had pretty open receivers and either didn't see them or didn't hit them," Bellard said. "Overall, I think we grew up a bunch as a football team. As far as what happened with execution, I think we can be a whole lot better."

Bryan has a six-day turnaround to try to continue its improvement with a Thursday road game against Round Rock McNeil.

"We've got no school Monday, which is always kind of a weird deal," Bellard said. "We'll have a very good game plan put together Monday morning. We'll go from there and get ready to line up against McNeil. They are a big strong football team and we will have to do a very good job."