Burnet football loses to Fredericksburg
CAPTION: Burnet senior running back Josiah Coronado takes the handoff and gets ready to earn some of his 120 yards against the Fredericksburg Billies. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Burnet High School football team lost to Fredericksburg 14-10 Sept. 19.
Going into the contest, Burnet head coach Ben Speer had indicated the Billies (1-3) were better than their record based off his film study.
“I think they were in the right direction,” he said. “They got a few guys back. Their starting running back – he was back. There’s a couple more that came back. They got several of their guys back. It was a battle. It wasn’t a shock or surprise. They always play us hard, and it’s always a hard-fought game.”
The Bulldogs (1-3) led 3-0 in the first quarter thanks to a 21-yard field goal by junior kicker Marco Campos-Huerta.
But the Billies (1-3) scored on a 45-yard run to take a 7-3 lead at the half.
Fredericksburg increased the advantage to 14-3 thanks to a two-yard run in the third quarter.
Burnet junior quarterback Bryan Johnson answered with an 80-yard scamper to trim the deficit to 14-10 going into the fourth quarter.
But the defenses showed their depth in not allowing another point.
The Bulldogs had 36 rushes for 234 yards and completed 7 of 20 passes for 74 yards for 308 yards of total offense. They had 15 first downs, were 4 for 15 on third down, were 2 for 3 on fourth down and had a fumble and an interception.
Senior running back Josiah Coronado had 23 rushes for 120 yards, while Johnson had six carries for 95 yards and a score, freshman athlete Ethan Sanchez had a 10-yard carry. Johnson also had a 30-yard completion. Sophomore quarterback Fisher Powell completed 6 of 17 passes for 44 yards and an interception. Senior receiver Matthew Williams had five receptions for 61 yards and a nine-yard run.
The Billies had 32 carries for 188 yards and two scores and completed 13 of 20 passes for 125 yards for 313 yards of total offense. They were 5 for 11 on third down, didn’t convert their only try on fourth down, and had one fumble.
Sophomore quarterback Kress Mohr completed 12 of 19 passes for 116 yards and had 12 rushes for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Senior running back Aaron Cantu had 12 carries for 78 yards and caught two passes for 19 yards. Junior receiver Griffin Beard had five receptions for 61 yards.
“I think the big thing is they had one really good drive and the other one was a touchdown run,” Speer said. “That was it. We held them most of the night.”
But the stat that stood out to the Bulldogs were the four trips to the Fredericksburg 30-yard line.
“We kick one field goal, we miss one field goal, and then twice we get in (and don’t come away with points).” Speer said. “It kind of defines it. We’re in a great field position, and we’re just kind of stalling out on drives and not being able to finish those. We still have a chance to win it in the end. It’s a tough thing to look back and see. It just felt like one of those games where there was a big play and a big play, we did not hit. We did get turnovers. Those things set us up. Offensively, we got to find a way to score points.”
Speer noted it’s not one position on the offensive unit that’s not meshing. On one play, it could be a missed block. On another, it’s a Bulldog running to the wrong spot. On another, a Bulldog may be so eager to make a play, he turns to run before the ball is secured.
“It’s not coming together,” he said. “It’s not one person or one group. The dude is running in his face and he can’t see the guy running wide open. As frustrating as it is, you keeping telling kids, ‘We’re one click away from this thing being really good.’ We just got to do it a little better. We’ve got to hold tight and trust where we’re going and trust each other. He’s doing his job. You can’t worry about something messing up on their side. And so I think it’s sustaining those drives. Now we got to finish, we have to get better.”
The good news, according to Speer, is the Bulldogs still enter and exit the field house with the same positive and encouraging attitudes. That will be important as they shift their attention to a road trip to Gatesville (4-0) at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26.
“They don’t seem down at all,” he said. “They don’t seem frustrated. We don’t have time to lick our wounds. You’ve got to get it blessed. We’re still growing. The offensive line is still coming together. (Fredericksburg head coach Bill) Wilder really complimented the offensive line. We ran the ball pretty well. We’ve just got to find a way to (finish) those drives. We have to execute it a lot better.”
