Burnet football loses to Lago Vista
CAPTION: Senior receiver Colt McGraw (2) congratulates sophomore running back Ethan Sanchez on one of his two rushing touchdowns against Lago Vista Sept. 11. Sanchez already has 344 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 52 carries this season. Photo by Kaydence Burditt/In Color Photography
The Burnet High School football team lost to Lago Vista 48-26 Sept. 11.
The game couldn’t have started better for the Bulldogs (0-3). Senior kicker Marco Campos-Huerta connected on a 36-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead and sophomore running back Ethan Sanchez scored on a 44-yard run while running in front of the Burnet sideline for a 10-0 advantage headed into the second quarter.
“We started pretty well, came out and scored 10 points in the first quarter,” head coach Ben Speer said. “The defense started really well.”
The Vikings began to climb back into it thanks to a 28-yard run to pay dirt to trim the deficit to 10-7. Then junior defensive back Macer Ballard gave Lago Vista the lead on an interception he returned for a touchdown and a 14-7 advantage.
The Bulldogs answered with an 18-yard touchdown run by Sanchez in front of the home stands. The two-point run failed, but Burnet led 16-14 at the half.
Then Lago Vista sophomore quarterback Easton Rice took over.
He found Archer Houston on a five-yard touchdown pass. The two-point pass failed, but the Vikings led 20-16.
Then Rice hit junior receiver Brennan Brown on a 30-yard touchdown toss on a go route to increase the lead to 27-16.
Rice, utilizing the zone read, kept the ball and scampered 66 yards to pay dirt for the 34-16 advantage.
Campos-Huerta nailed a 23-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 34-19, though the Vikings increased the lead to 41-19 on a three-year touchdown run to end the third quarter. Lago Vista outscored Burnet 27-3 in the period.
In the fourth quarter, the Vikings scored another touchdown on a two-yard run and Burnet senior defensive back Scott Edwards returned a fumble to the end zone to end the scoring.
“We got in a hole,” Speer said. “We dug ourselves in a hole in the third quarter. Two explosive (plays) really put us down. And then we weren’t able to sustain some drives. That was the difference. We have to take some responsibility. We usually take pride in trying to win the third quarter, win after halftime, win coming out. ”
The Vikings had 373 yards of total offense on 53 plays with 176 and two touchdowns coming in the passing game and 197 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 37 carries.
Easton completed 9 of 13 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns and had 11 rushes for 107 yards and a score.
The Bulldogs had 244 yards of total offense on 52 plays with 163 rushing yards. Sanchez finished with 27 rushes for 149 yards and two touchdowns and had two catches for three yards.
Junior quarterback Fisher Powell completed 11 of 19 passes for 81 yards and two interceptions and had three carries for 10 yards. Receiver Colt McGraw caught three passes for 33 yards, athlete Bryan Johnson had four receptions for 31 yards, receiver Calan Syphrett had a nine-yard catch and receiver Alex Perez had a five-yard reception. All are seniors.
“It looks kind of evenly matched,” Speer said. “Total plays and yards weren’t too far off. On third down, they were 5 of 9 and we were 2 for 10, and that pretty much defines the game right there. And they scored on all three turnovers, and you can’t do that.”
Though the outcome wasn’t what the Bulldogs wanted, the coach pointed out this contest will help his team moving forward.
“We’re proud of how we played in the first half on defense and offense, we were here and there,” he said. “We took a step forward last week and it didn’t feel like we did the same this week. We still saw some good things. You see — it’s there — and you’re able to show the kids, ‘Hey, look how close we are. This is how close we are. We’re just six inches here, six inches there from being really good.'”
Burnet travels to play Blanco at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18. The Panthers (2-1) defeated Llano 39-34 Sept. 11 Austin Crockett 60-15 Aug. 27 and lost to Salado 34-14 Sept. 4.
CAPTION: Burnet junior Andres Hernandez (60) and senior lineman Traeton Nelson are part of a group of strong linemen charged with controlling the line of scrimmage so the Bulldogs can do what they want offensively and defensively. Photo by Kaydence Burditt/In Color Photography
