Burnet football loses to Georgetown East View

CAPTION: Burnet senior running back Josiah Coronado runs for more than 100 yards against Georgetown East View. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography

The Burnet High School football team lost to Georgetown East View 42-28 Sept. 5.

“There are no moral victories,” Speer said. “Still you want to see your kids get better week in and week out. There are fixable things. There are good things that we can take away. We’ll roll into next week. The kids have a lot of confidence going forward. I’m proud of the kids and their fight. They got after it.”

Burnet sophomore quarterback Bryan Johnson got the scoring going on a three-yard run though the Patriots answered with a four-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7 going into the second quarter.

“We won the toss and marched down the field and scored,” Speer said. “That was a good shot in the arm, that we can do this.”

But East View added one-yard and three-yard touchdown runs for a 21-7 advantage at the half.

The Bulldogs called for an onside kick to begin the second half and recovered it only to throw an interception.

The Patriots added another one-yard touchdown run for the 28-7 lead.

Burnet senior receiver Cohen Jorpeland caught a 17-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Fisher Powell to trim the deficit to 28-14. Marco Campos-Huerta added the extra point.

But the Patriots recovered a fumble on a punt for a touchdown to extend the advantage to 35-14 headed to the fourth quarter.

Johnson had a four-yard touchdown run to cut into the lead 35-21.

The Bulldogs called for another onside kick but didn’t get it. Instead, East View took advantage of a short field and scored its last touchdown on a 27-yard run to lead 42-21.

Burnet senior Matthew Williams caught a 26-yard pass from Powell for the final points of the contest.

Burnet senior running back Josiah Coronado had 21 rushes for 121 yards, while Johnson had eight carries for 78 yards and two touchdowns, and senior running back Peyton Lopez had eight carries for 46 yards. In all, the Bulldogs had 42 rushes for 251 yards.

“Josiah ran extremely hard – he did a great job,” the coach said. “Bryan came in and did a role. It was good to see the sophomore get out there.”

Powell completed 9 of 16 passes for 117 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Williams had two catches for 56 yards, while senior tight end Demetrius Taliaferro had three receptions for 33 yards, and Jorpeland caught the 17-yard touchdown pass. Six different Bulldogs caught a pass.

Burnet had 368 yards of total offense. Speer credited offensive coordinator Colton Brewer and that staff for the game plan.

“They did a great job of simplifying things,” he said. “The kids went out and we trusted them to do it. The thing you’re pleased with is the offense is starting to find themselves and execute. “We were pleased with our offensive game plan. Those kids got after it. You run for 250 yards, you like your chances.”

That allows teams to control the clock “and eat time of possession,” he added.

“The kids were excited and confident in what we were running,” he said. “We invested a lot of good things.”

East View completed 19 of 25 passes for 222 yards and had 36 rushes for 167 yards for 389 yards of total offense. The Patriots were 9 for 13 on third down.

Though the outcome didn’t go the way the Bulldogs wanted, players and coaches believe they saw enough to continue building momentum. After all, the 2024 also started 0-2 and still advanced to the playoffs.

“The kids are also excited,” Speer said. “We made this a game with a little bit of back and forth. That wasn’t the case last year versus East View. We definitely got some confidence.”

Burnet welcomes Little River Academy at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12, to Bulldog Field. It’s a reunion of sorts. Academy head coach is Ty Kuhn and the its defensive coordinator is his brother, Cory, who was the Burnet Middle School boys athletics coordinator for three years. The Kuhns are Burnet High School graduates with Ty being named the Central Texas Defensive Player of the Year in 2003.

CAPTION: Burnet senior receiver Matthew Williams catches this pass for 26 yards in the fourth quarter. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography