Burnet football loses to Lago Vista
CAPTION: Burnet senior running back Peyton Lopez (15) runs into the heart of the Lago Vista defense looking for a seam Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Burnet High School football team lost to Lago Vista 15-6 Aug. 29 in the season opener on the road.
The Bulldogs’ (0-1) only score came in the fourth quarter on a 75-yard touchdown catch to senior receiver Matthew Williamson from sophomore quarterback Fisher Powell. The two-point conversation failed.
“The one he caught was a deflected pass,” Burnet head coach Ben Speer said. “He made the play and outran everyone to the end zone.”
By then the Vikings (1-0) led 15-0 thanks to a 21-yard scamper in the second quarter and a two-yard run the fourth quarter.
“It was old school football,” Speer said. “It was such a defensive effort for a long time. We did a great job on defense – we played our tails off. We were sound in a lot of things and gave great effort. Our defense was on the field a lot. They came up with a game plan; those guys responded.”
Lago Vista had 38 carries for 184 rushing yards and completed 12 of 24 passes for 158 yards and an interception for 342 yards of total offense and 19 first downs.
Speer noted the Vikings had driven inside the Burnet 10-yard line in the first quarter. The Bulldogs “forced a fumble and got it” to keep the game scoreless.
He was especially pleased with the play of junior defensive back Rodrigo Valdez.
“He was very physical with their tight end,” the coach said. “They couldn’t run the ball on the outside against him. He made big tackles for loss.”
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs completed 11 of 25 passes for 130 yards. Senior quarterback Charles Edwards completed 7 of 15 passes for 47 yards with an interception.
The Bulldogs were limited to 43 rushing yards on 21 carries led by senior running back Josiah Coronado, who had eight rushes for 27 yards, and sophomore quarterback Bryan Johnson, who had six carries for 27 yards.
Williams had three receptions for 88 yards, while senior tight end Demetrius Taliaferro caught two passes for 10 yards and senior tight end Riley Howell had a 15-yard reception.
Speer was direct about the offense.
“We kept shooting ourselves in the foot and couldn’t sustain drives,” he said. “We have to execute better on offense. We have to be able to grow. There’s no time to lick your wounds. We have to execute better on offense and help our defense out a little.”
He noted the Vikings “didn’t do anything on defense that was out of the ordinary. We didn’t execute when we had the chance.”
Most of the contest in the first half “was played on our side of the field cause we couldn’t move the ball,” the coach said.
“We didn’t play complimentary football,” he said. “We have to execute. We missed some easy reads. We have first-time quarterbacks playing on a Friday night, and it showed for them. And we’ll get to rocking and rolling.”
While the score didn’t go the way Burnet wanted, Speer pointed out he saw other positives.
“We had one penalty in the first half,” he said. “(Later in the game) we made some procedure penalties that cost us. Some of that is you get tired and exhausted. We’ll do a better job of that cause there’s no time to feel sorry for ourselves.”
Burnet welcomes Georgetown East View (0-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5, to Bulldog Field for the home opener. The Patriots lost to Round Rock Stony Point 42-20.
CAPTION: Burnet junior quarterback Bryan Johnson runs up the middle for a positive gain agains Lago Vista. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
