Burnet football moves up kickoff against Brownwood
CAPTION: Burnet senior Trevin Park (10) is eager to do his part to help the Bulldogs win, including recovering a fumble like this one against the Lampasas Badgers. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
Preparing for inclement weather, the Burnet High School football team’s contest against Brownwood will kickoff at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24 at Bulldog Field.
The Burnet program will honor its seniors and their families at 5:20 p.m.
This is a District 24-4A showdown.
The Lions enter the contest on a three-game winning streak that includes a 42-39 victory against Lampasas two weeks ago. Other wins were against Ingleside 62-0 Oct. 3, China Spring 20-10 Sept. 26, and Glen Rose 34-28 Sept. 12. The losses were to Waco La Vega for 38-16 Sept. 19, Wall 35-10 Sept. 5 and Abilene Wylie 25-0 Aug. 29. Wall is ranked No. 2 in the latest Class 3A Division II poll and La Vega was the Class 4A Division II state runner-up last season.
Brownwood was on a bye last week.
“They’re getting better every week, and they’re getting more comfortable in what they’re doing in their new offense and new defense,” Burnet head coach Ben Speer said. “They’re well coached and they’re headed in the right direction.”
The Lions have won 10 consecutive games against the Bulldogs, but the average scoring gap has been eight points. A touchdown or less has decided the last five games. Burnet has had leads in the last three contests, including last year’s 31-30 overtime triller.
This year’s Brownwood defense allows 136 passing yards, 111 rushing yards and 25 points per game. The Lions have 17 takeaways with 10 of them interceptions.
Brinson Martin has 54 tackles, seven for loss, 3.5 sacks and a fumble recovery, while Caven Webster has 46.5 tackles and two interceptions, Wyatt Wolf has 42 tackles and two interceptions, Christian Gray has 37 tackles, six for loss, and 5.5 sacks, and Durham Brown has 33.5 tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery.
Burnet will counter with a rushing attack that averages 204 yards per game led by senior running back Josiah Coronado, who has 115 rushes for 687 yards and five touchdowns and five catches for 30 yards, junior quarterback Bryan Johnson, who has 75 caries for 553 yards and 13 scores, and senior running back Peyton Lopez, who has 49 carries for 288 yards and a touchdown. For the year, the Bulldogs have 279 rushes for 1,634 yards and 30 touchdowns.
Sophomore quarterback Fisher Powell has completed 46 of 104 passes for 577 yards, five touchdowns and eight interceptions and has 19 rushes for 40 yards and a score. Senior receiver Matthew Williams has 26 receptions for 477 yards and four scores
The Lions operate new head coach Jeryl Brixey’s offense. He is in his first year at the helm of the Lions program. Previously he was the Katy offensive coordinator.
The Lions average scoring 26 points and rushing for 101 yards and passing for 164 yards per game.
Judson Coalson has completed 64 of 109 passes for 1,150 yards, 14 touchdowns and five interceptions. Trent Buffington has 61 rushes for 338 yards and four scores, while Levi Pearson has 102 carries for 336 yards and a touchdown.
Carson Noe has 33 receptions for 638 yards and eight touchdowns, while Connor Cornelius has eight catches for 146 yards and three touchdowns, Grant Gray has five receptions for 144 yards and two touchdowns, and Robbie Robinson has nine catches for 99 yards.
“They’re under center, kind of looking at some eyes, some offset eye stuff, and they may get in the gun a little bit, but their passing game is really just sped off of their play action with the run,” Speer said.
Burnet will lean heavily on senior linebacker Adler Goerhring, who has 87 tackles and two quarterback hurries, senior defensive back Trevin Park, who has 66 tackles, a sack, two pass deflections, a fumble recovery and a blocked field goal, and senior defensive back Cason O’Hair, who has 63 tackles, a quarterback hurry, an interception, four pass deflections and caused a fumble.
If there’s parity in District 4-4A Division I, perhaps no game better illustrates that than the Brownwood-Lampasas matchup.
The Badgers took a 14-7 lead in the first quarter only to trail 21-20 at the intermission and 34-26 after three quarters. Lampasas erased the deficit thanks to a 10-play, 60-yard drive that ended when senior quarterback Bryson Roberts found senior receiver Jaden McElwain on an 18-yard passing touchdown for a 39-34 lead with 2 minutes and 11 seconds remaining.
Brownwood responded with an 11-play, 81-yard drive that ended when Coalson hit Noe on a seven-yard touchdown pass with 18 seconds left. Coalson threw his fifth passing touchdown and Noe recorded his fifth touchdown on the night.
The Lions had 428 yards of total offense in that game with 295 coming through their passing attack.
Two fumbles and a high snap on a punt paved the way for the Badgers to score. The total yards of those three drives? A whopping 48 yards with one drive covering a single yard and another covering 11 yards.
“Lampasas could not stop them,” Speer said. “They were just shooting themselves in the foot.”
Meanwhile the Badgers had two turnovers in the second half and two interceptions on two-point conversions that proved pivotal to the outcome.
Speer believes the Lions will arrive in Burnet ready to give their best.
“It’s set up to be good for them,” he said. “Hopefully we can match up well with them on offense and I think we can defensively. We have to be able to find ways to control the ball and move it and finish drives. The run game is going to be a must to help control the clock. And that way it can keep the defense off the field and give us a chance at the end.”
