Burnet, Llano renew rivalry on the football field

CAPTION: New Burnet offensive coordinator Tyler Fambrough and the Bulldogs will take on long-time rival Llano. Photo by Kaydence Burditt/In Color Photography

Highland Lakes football fans will get a treat week one of the high school football season when Burnet High School takes the short trip west to visit the Yellow Jackets at Llano Stadium.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28.

“I’m glad we’re getting this back on the schedule,” Bulldogs head coach Ben Speer said. “It needed to be. It’s a fun rivalry.”

Both teams mirror each other in several ways – they both advanced to the playoffs in each of the last two years while playing in difficult districts, have had stability at head coach in Matt Green at Llano, who is entering his ninth season, and Speer, who is entering his third but his sixth in Kelly green after following former head coach Bryan Wood to be the defensive coordinator, and share many of the same philosophies when it comes to the sport, preparing a team and running a program.

“They’re all very solid,” Green said the Bulldogs. “Their kids play hard, they know what they’re doing, and I think they have a really good football team.”

“They give great effort,” Speer said of the Yellow Jackets. “And that sounds like a lot of teams where we’ve had in the past is you turn us on and look and there’s nobody in front that weighs over 200 pounds. But they give great effort. And that speaks volumes about coaching, a coaching staff.”

Offensively, the Bulldogs are led by junior quarterback Fisher Powell, who completed 77 of 161 passes for 823 yards, six touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Senior Bryan Johnson, who was the short-yardage quarterback a year ago, has moved to running back this year. He had 101 rushes for 639 yards and 15 scores and caught six passes for 31 yards in 2025. Senior linemen Adam Heffington and Traeton Nelson also are returning starters.

Burnet’s offensive staff is brand new – offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tyler Fambrough, running backs coach Brandon Cunningham, receivers coach Aaron Terry and offensive line coach Bronson Wire. Roman Arguelles coaches the tight ends.

“I think they’re an unknown to us,” Green said. “Scrimmages don’t reveal who they truly are. We don’t know much about their new offensive coordinator and so you have your questions like what are they really going to do come Friday night? We know there’ll be some things we haven’t seen. But you can see they definitely have some creativity. They have some good things going on. There’s a little bit of a quarterback position battle going on (between Powell and junior Cooper Evans), and as an opposing coach, you sit there and go, ‘Who are we preparing for? We have an idea, but are they really going to rotate him in the game or they not gonna rotate him and just go with one guy?'”

Llano will counter with linemen Mario Hernandez, who had 72 tackles, and Logan Robinson, who had 22 tackles, linebackers Ethan Gomez, who had 21 tackles, and Jason Cherry, who had 81 tackles, and defensive back Caden White, who had 12 tackles, who are all seniors.

“They run to the ball,” Speer said. “The backside pursuit by those guys – they just do a good job just passionately pursuing the ball. They make some mistakes and do some things, but their effort in doing so helps them get out of some things. When you turn on the tape, it’s the first thing you notice. They’re not that big, but they give great effort.”

Offensively, the Jackets are led by four-year starting quarterback Luke Davis, who has completed 392 of 645 passes for 5,586 yards with 72 touchdowns and 28 interceptions and has 246 rushes for 1,281 yards and 13 scores, senior receiver Cash Lynch, who has 95 receptions for 1,532 yards and 17 touchdowns, and sophomore running back Cole Landers, who has 89 rushes for 712 yards and seven scores.   

“I think they’re well coached on offense,” Speer said. “I think they do a great job on the line – it’s pretty good, especially as you let them get older they’re going to mold you. I feel like Luke has been there forever and is tough as nails. It’s great. You know you’re going to get the best from him.”

Burnet will counter with senior defensive back Rodrigo Valdez, who had 80 tackles last season, senior linebacker Alex Perez, who had 71 tackles, junior defensive lineman Mac Clanin, who had 24 tackles, and Johnson, who had 59.

“Coach Speer has been there, and he’s been calling the defense for years,” Green said. “Those kids are very well acquainted with his defense, and they know exactly what they’re trying to do – that stands out to me.”

Both teams also have another common denominator, Green said.

“They are absolutely having to play kids both ways,” he said. “They are utilizing players on the offensive and the defensive sides of the ball. They do not have hardly any one-way players. I’ve seen just about every kid they have playing both sides of the ball. That includes their quarterbacks – they play defense. That’s a unique thing that you don’t always see at the (Class) 4A level, but I certainly respect it because that’s more in line with what we do. You know that that’s going to factor in the game Friday night.”

CAPTION: Llano offensive lineman Scott Henderson sets a block for sophomore running back Cole Landers during a scrimmage against Austin Hyde Park. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro