Burnet football ready to scrimmage Canyon Lake
CAPTION: Running back Josiah Coronado sees the hole in the middle and goes through it virtually untouched during practice Aug. 11. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Burnet High School football team added full pads to its practices at the end of last week. But the Bulldogs continue to show the same intensity and enthusiasm that has defined the first week of fall training camp.
And their reward at the end of this week? Welcoming Fischer Canyon Lake for the first scrimmage of the season Friday, Aug. 15, at Bulldog Field. The subvarsities take the field at 5 p.m. with the varsity to follow at 6:30 pm.
Head coach Ben Speer said coaches will be looking for the obvious things during the scrimmage — lining up correctly, Bulldogs knowing their individual jobs on each play, and all-out effort during the entire event. But there are other qualities he wants to see that shouldn’t have to be coaxed out of the Bulldogs.
“The main thing is making sure we know what we’re doing,” he said. “I want to see physicality and flying around.”
As the defensive coordinator, Speer fielded a defense that was meticulous and pursued the ball carrier all over the field. Though he’s the head coach now and Jordan Heusinkveld is in his second year as the defensive coordinator, that part of the unit hasn’t changed.
The other part of the program, no matter which unit is on the field, is Speer wants to see the Bulldogs be crisp in their execution.
Seniors Charles Edwards, Josiah Coronado, Riley Howell and Cohen Jorpeland have been part of an offensive unit that is mixing in the run and the pass. Howell is still lining up as the H-back, while Jorpeland is at receiver, Coronado is at running back and Edwards is at quarterback.
During their practice Aug. 11, the Bulldogs broke into position specific drills with offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Colton Brewer going with those players. Once the drills ended, the quarterbacks and the running backs met in a corner of the end zone to go over handoffs for specific plays that called for each one moving to a different part of the field, no matter who has the ball. The offensive linemen pushed their blocking sled and then got into a blocking drill.
Once that concluded the quarterbacks, running backs and linemen went through their running plays then the quarterbacks and the receivers went to midfield to go through their passing plays. The practice session ended with some 11 on 11 that was spirited. At the end of each play, coaches talked to different players about what he saw and the adjustments that need to be made.
Speer said the program enjoyed a productive first week of practices that ended with an intrasquad scrimmage Aug. 9.
“It went well,” he said. “The guys are excited. We’d like to see things being cleaned up a little bit. The kids are confident in what they’re doing. On Saturday they showed that.”
CAPTION: Running back Peyton Lopez prepares to take the ball as quarterback Charles Edwards holds it out during an end-around drill. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
