Marble Falls football ends first week in pads

CAPTION: Senior running back Bunting is trying to get through the line of scrimmage during a run play. The Mustangs ran through specific plays with specific personnel Aug. 8. Staff photos by Jennifer Fierro

The Marble Falls High School football program wrapped up a busy first week with a productive practice Aug. 8.

The Mustangs, who were in pads for the first time in 2026, went through position drills then repped around 25 plays before head coach Keri Timmerman talked to the players and dismissed them.

“It’s been great,” he said of the first week. “It has been very productive. We can’t just say we’re doing better; little things have to be huge. Our receivers being ready to go, our quarterbacks. Now if we’re going to where we haven’t been yet, we can’t have one kid a little bit off. There are too many teams we play that are really, really good. So I’m really happy with where we are – I’m not satisfied.”

A big reason why the practice didn’t last longer, he said, is because he and the coaching staff got what they needed from the Mustangs. And Timmerman indicated the players exerted plenty of energy throughout the week to get themselves in position to be able to compete for four quarters.

“We try to be pretty quick and get what we want to see on (the junior varsity), the freshmen, but what we want to see people on varsity, and then get off the field,” he said. “We need to get in the heat and we need to get full pads in with the (University Interscholastic League) changing the rules of what they have. It just is such a necessary thing to make sure today they get to hit.”

The UIL requires members to use the Web Bulb Globe Temperature readings to modify or restrict outdoor practices accordingly. WBGT calculates heat stress – a combination of air temperature, humidity, wind speed and sun angle. A reading below 82 degrees means outdoor practices and full duration is allowed, while practices 82-86 degrees means creating mandatory on-site rapid cooling zones, such as cold-water immersion, and extra water and rest breaks. Each as the temperature rises, programs adjust practice times and the amount of gear players put on.

Coaches called specific plays they wanted to see, and Timmerman noted the players are learning a lot in a short amount of time, which is by design. Coaches want to see what each Mustang does well so they can put them in positions to succeed that best helps the team. They may have an idea of what an athlete can do and then they put him on the practice field and discover he can do more.

“I want to throw everything out at them and figure out where we are and then start sharping (for) two weeks later, the first game,” he said. “We’re working through that right now, just what our identity is to be going, what our strengths and our weaknesses. We’re in position of trying to adjust that for the kids, and they get on the field and then put our best on our best offense and defense up.”

Junior quarterbacks Crawford Mattox and Anderson Liscum each took snaps, and both showed arm strength and an ability to stretch the defense.

“They’re stronger. They get more comfortable,” said Timmerman, who serves as the program’s quarterbacks coach. “It just takes time, it takes practice reps, it takes game reps. I think our kids are actually great. They’ve done a great job.”

After the players broke from their final huddle, they talked to family members, friends and other teammates. They still had some hop in their steps, which illustrates they gave great effort but weren’t worn down from a busy and constructive week. Timmerman agreed, crediting the Mustangs’ offseason work that begins shortly after the season ends and carries them through Forge, their summer strength-and-conditioning program.

“That’s our goal is that we’re not ready to go in January and we’re not ready to go in June – it’s August,” he said. “That’s when we want to be ready to go. And so I feel like that’s definitely been a strength of ours that 95 percent of our kids could go out right now and we could play a full game. It might not be pretty, but we’d be able to finish. That’s what we’re ramping up to the next two weeks – get the heat for the two scrimmages, get our kids acclimated and ready to go in an afternoon practice.”

Marble Falls welcomes Gatesville for a scrimmage Thursday, Aug. 13, with the subvarsities at 5 p.m. and the varsity at 6 p.m.

CAPTION: Sophomore running back Diego Aguilar follows his blockers as he tries to round the corner Aug. 8.