Burnet football prepares for Randall in area round

CAPTION: Burnet senior running back Josiah Coronado runs for one of his three touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs to victory. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography

The Burnet High School football team will face Amarillo Randall in the area round of the Class 4A Division I playoffs at 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21.

The game will be played at Iowa Park High School’s Hawk Stadium.

Burnet head coach Ben Speer noted the Raiders (9-2, 4-1 District 2-4A Division I runner-up) mirror the Bulldogs in many ways.

“They’ve kept the 3-4 (front seven defense) kind of intact,” he said. “That’s been their base defense, so that looks a lot like us.”

The Raiders rely on linebacker Jevin Gallegos and defensive end Terris White to set the tone for the unit.

“The best part of their defense is probably their back end,” Speer said.

Burnet will counter with its rushing attack led by a pair of senior running backs: Josiah Coronado, who has 136 rushes for 815 yards and seven touchdowns and Peyton Lopez, who has 91 carries for 449 yards and a score.

During the 21-7 victory against Andrews, Coronado had 20 rushes for 104 yards and two touchdowns and caught six passes for 71 yards and a score.

Junior Brian Johnson has 93 rushes for 624 yards and 14 touchdowns, while sophomore quarterback Fisher Powell has completed 66 of 139 yards for 743 yards and six touchdowns.

The Raiders operate in formations featuring one running and four wide receivers or one running back, a tight end and three receivers.

Senior quarterback Kaison Benton, a thee-year letterman, has completed 317 of 464 passes for 4,194 yards, 42 touchdowns and six interceptions. This season he has completed 124 of 179 yards for 1,219 yards, 11 touchdowns and an interception and has 58 rushes for 284 yards and five scores.

Seventeen different Raiders have caught at least one pass this season. The top target is junior Phoenix Sherwood, who has 37 catches for 596 yards and seven touchdowns followed by senior Conner Miller, who has 34 receptions for 387 yards and four scores and sophomore Kobe Baccas, who has 32 catches for 386 yards and four touchdowns. Junior running back Drayden Ray has 116 carries for 470 yards and five touchdowns.

“They have some pretty good athletes with decent size up front,” Speer said. “They like to spread the field and have you run. They also don’t mind getting the ball out to some guys, who are playmakers.”

The Bulldogs will counter with senior linebacker Adler Goehring, who has 117 tackles and two quarterback hurries, senior defensive back Trevin Park, who has 85 tackles, a sack, four pass deflections and a blocked field goal, senior defensive back Cason O’Hair, who has 84 tackles, a quarterback hurry, an interception, five pass deflections and caused a fumble, and junior linebacker Rigo Valdez, who has 76 tackles, three sacks, six quarterback hurries, an interception and two fumble recoveries.

The third part of any squad may play a big factor in the outcome, Speer said.

“I always believe the biggest difference, when you have two teams evenly matched, is special teams in the playoffs,” he said. “As you watch some of these other rounds, whomever does better things on special teams usually has the advantage because they worked on it. I think it’s always big. It can be a big turning point in a playoff game.

Burnet will aim to continue doing what has helped them reach this point.

“It’s always establish the run and control the clock when you limit their physicality,” the coach said. “It helps us rest the guys and shorten the game as much as possible. Hopefully it’s close in the fourth quarter, and we can execute and who knows what will happen.”

When players step onto the turf at Hawk Stadium, nothing else will matter, Speer added.

“I told the kids, ‘You can’t compare records. They haven’t played our schedule, we haven’t played theirs. All you have to know is we’re in the second round and you can throw records out the door,'” he said. “It’s who is going to show up and have a great week of preparation and be disciplined.”

Everything about this contest speaks to a reunion of sorts.

Iowa Park’s athletic director is Bryan Wood, who also serves as the football head coach.

From 2021-23, Wood was the Burnet head coach and Speer was the defensive coordinator after the two worked at Shallowater High School in the same capacities.

In December 2023, Wood resigned and did everything he could to compel Burnet Consolidated Independent School District officials to promote Speer.

Before Shallowater, Wood coached Randall from 2009-16.

So when Burnet beat Andrews 21-7 for a bi-district title last week, Wood and his wife, Brandy, were in attendance.

“Indeed, he was there,” Speer said. “That was special to have them there. He’s your mentor and you emulate yourself and your program and try to keep going what he started here. Looking down from the stands, I hope he’s proud of what he saw. I know he’s proud of his kids and proud of us for the win. Looking back, we got it started, we got it headed back in the right direction.”

Speer said officials had looked at different venues in different cities until someone wondered if anyone had a connection at Iowa Park.

“Yeah, I think we know someone,” Speer answered with a grin.