Burnet football welcomes Little River Academy
Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photograpy
The Burnet High School football team hosts Little River Academy at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12, at Bulldog Field.
The ball game is a reunion. Academy head coach Ty Kuhn and his brother Cory, who is the defensive coordinator, are Burnet High School graduates. Ty Kuhn was the Central Texas Defensive Player of the Year in 2003 and was part of both squads that played for Class 3A state titles in 2002 and 2003. Cory was the Burnet Middle School boys athletic coordinator for three years before he resigned to join his brother.
Ty Kuhn was named the Academy head coach March 6.
The Bumblebees lost to Waco Connally 33-29 Aug. 29 and to Lexington 21-14 Sept. 5.
“They’re coming in search of their first win,” Bulldogs head coach Ben Speer said. “They’re trying to get their stuff implemented and staying focused.”
Academy and Burnet are familiar with each other’s skill personnel thanks to playing one another a year ago and during the Burnet 7-on-7 State Qualifying Tournament in late May. The Bumblebees qualified for the Division II state tournament. In pool play, Academy beat Lamesa 33-13 and Kingsville 28-12 but lot to Hamshire-Fannett 33-14
“They’re very athletic,” Speer said. “They’re new in their systems.”
The Bumblebees return 10 defensive starters and seven offensive starters along with 37 seniors. The program graduated only three players.
But one newcomer, linebacker Carter Kuhn who is Ty’s son, is the preseason pick for defensive Most Valuable Player in District 11-3A Division I. He had more than 100 tackles as a Lampasas Badger a year ago where his dad served as the assistant head coach.
Offensively, Academy is playing two junior quarterbacks. Brody Allen has 15 carries for 133 yards and a score and has completed 8 of 21 passes for 60 yards and a touchdown, while Tyler Hoffman has 14 carries for 60 yards and completed 7 of 18 passes for 73 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Senior running back Brian Grissom has 41 rushes for 351 yards and a touchdown and a 16-yard receiving score. Senior Vincent Williams has seven receptions for 67 yards and a touchdown.
The Bulldogs will counter with senior linebacker Adler Goehring, who has 25 tackles, senior defensive backs Trevin Park, who has 17 tackles, and Cason O’Hair, who has 15 tackles, junior defensive backs Brian Johnson and junior Rodrigo Valdez, who each have 12 tackles. Valdez has a sack and a fumble recovery and Adler has the other fumble recovery.
“We know those guys well,” Speer said. “They’re still trying to implement their stuff and go both ways. They don’t look that much different than us.”
The Bulldogs are using multiple quarterbacks, too: senior Charles Edwards, junior Brian Johnson and sophomore Fisher Powell.
Fisher has completed 11 of 18 passes for 197 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in two contests.
They are set a running back thanks to seniors Josiah Coronado. Coronado has 29 rushes for 148 yards in two games. Johnson has 14 carries for 105 yards and two touchdowns.
Senior receiver Matthew Williams has five receptions for 144 yards and two touchdowns.
Despite the 0-2 start, Speer can see progress from one week to the next. That illustrates the players believe in their schemes and their coaches and continue to give maximum effort.
“It’s good football when you call plays that are working,” h esaid. “They see it and trust it and play harder. This week we did see that in practice. We have a job to do and come Friday, we want to get our jobs done.”
