Burnet welcomes Georgetown East View

Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography

The Burnet High School football team hosts Georgetown East View at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5, at Bulldog Field in the home opener.

Both squads are coming off losses last week.

The Bulldogs (0-1) lost to Lago Vista 15-6 and the Patriots (0-1) lost to Round Rock Stony Point 42-20.

Despite the outcome, Burnet head coach Ben Speer said he and his team are preparing to face East View’s best.

“They’re really good, really talented,” he said. “They’re big and athletic. They only play one way. They have depth; that’ll be a challenge for us.”

East View is led by quarterback Cormyc Guerrero, who had a 29-yard run on a zone read play against Stony Point. The Patriots’ primary offense is the spread.

Despite the loss, East View had 125 passing yards and 171 rushing yards for 296 yards of total offense and converted four of 11 third downs, while Stony Point had 195 passing yards and 187 rushing yards for 382 yards of total offense and converted six of 10 first downs.

“They do a lot with the outside zone,” Speer said of the Patriots offense.

Though he was pleased with the way his defense played, Speer noted one part that unit must get better at is how it defends the quarterback. He noted Lago Vista senior quarterback Tripp Henderson kept several plays going because of his mobility.

“They did enough here and there to sustain drives,” he said. “His ability to break out of the pocket was an issue. He sustained drives by using his feet to escape pressure. We have to make sure we’re sound in our lanes.”

Defensively, the Patriots are led by senior defensive end and linebacker Tieson Eliawoko, who is a Texas Tech commit, and senior safety Jaheim Smith.

“East View was really, really good last year,” Speer said, “We have to fix some special teams, we have to be more sound. We’ll shorten the game as much as possible. We want our defense off the field and keep our guys fresh.”

He is looking forward to being at home and getting on a roll.

“We have a three-game home stretch,” he said. “We’ll put in more stuff and hopefully get more comfortable. We have a lot of football left to play. We have to focus on us and get better. Some guys have to grow up and take charge of what’s going on. Us coaches need to put them in the right positions and get them going.”