Burnet football braces for Lago Vista
CAPTION: Burnet junior linebacker Carter Lopez (0) is one of several Bulldog linebackers part of a strong unit known for making plays. Photo by Kaydence Burditt/In Color Photography
The Burnet High School football team welcomes Lago Vista at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11.
The Bulldogs (0-2) are searching for their first win after falling to Taylor 49-30 Sept. 4 and to Llano 38-31 Aug. 28. The Vikings beat Fischer Canyon Lake 35-21 Sept. 4 and lost to Lorena 42-7.
“That’s a really good win for them,” Burnet head coach Ben Speer said of the Vikings’ victory over the Hawks. “Lago has always been a battle for us. They’ve always been a real physical game for us – that’s good.”
The Vikings are led by sophomore quarterback Easton Rice, who has completed 22 of 35 attempts for 365 yards, one touchdown and has 17 rushes for 225 yards and three scores. Junior running back Devin Parsons has 15 carries for 124 yards and a score, while senior running back Bobby Ruth has 14 rushes for 80 yards. Sophomore receiver Derek White has eight receptions for 153 yards and senior Archer Houston has five catches for 129 yards and a score.
The Bulldogs will counter with a strong crew of linebackers: seniors Wyatt Atkison has 21 tackles and Bryan Johnson has 20, sophomore Ethan Sanchez has 11, and senior Alex Perez has 10. Senior defensive back Rodrigo Valdez has two sacks, while senior defensive back Andrew Hudgens has an interception.
Lago Vista’s defense is led by junior middle linebacker Reed Herring, who has 19 tackles, while senior outside linebacker Ronald Ackley has 11 tackles, and junior cornerback Brennan Brown has 10 tackles and two pass deflections
Burnet will counter with junior quarterback Fisher Powell, who has completed 20 of 32 passes for 286 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Running back Sanchez has 25 carries for 195 yards and three touchdowns and five catches for 79 yards and a score, while athlete Johnson has 18 carries for 104 yards and three scores and seven receptions for 64 yards. Senior receiver Calan Syphrett has three catches for 79 yards and a touchdown.
Speer noted he’s witnessed some tremendous traits from his Bulldogs – their fight, their ability to not let one bad play turn into a series, and the way each player appoints himself to make a play for his team instead of hoping for someone else to.
Against Taylor, he pointed out the Bulldogs scored on five of eight drives, scoring five of six times in the red zone, and didn’t have turnovers.
“Those are all things we can build off of,” the coach said. “Offensively, we did some really good things, we’re seeing some growth. I think there’s a little bit of momentum going on on the offensive side of the ball. You go back-to-back games of scoring over 30 points – that’s positive. We may have to lean more on our ability to score points this year. (Taylor) was a very good and athletic team, and we were able to move the ball on them.”
The non-district opponents the Bulldogs are facing are meant to prepare them for what’s coming in District 12-4A Division I, and knows the challenges they bring.
“With Blanco (Sept. 18) we want to see the slot T (offense) before we get to district because we’ll see it in Jarrell, so that was the scheduling behind that. And Gatesville is just hard-nosed kind of running downhill action. I just think that’s a great non-district schedule that provides many different looks that can help get us prepare for district. You want to get good competition, but you can’t go and everybody get beat up. There’s definitely a method to it that we try to do it, not just get whomever or not.”
