Marble Falls football to face La Vernia
CAPTION: Marble Falls defensive ends Jesse Flores (left) and Kaleb Bielfeldt must be accounted for on every play. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School football team travels to play at La Vernia at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, in a non-district contest.
The Bears (3-1, District 15-4A Division I), who lost to Kilgore 38-13 in a Class 4A Division I state semifinal last season even though they finished third in the district standings, are entering this contest with the exact same record as last year after four games.
“They do a good job with what they have,” Mustangs head coach Keri Timmerman said. “They’re a big and strong and tough, good and talented team. I think they’re pretty heavy on the offensive line in some spots, but in a lot of places they probably have four returning starters at least on each side of the ball. And then they have some juniors who have stepped in their roles. They’re a talented team, and they’re confident in what they’re doing right now.”
The Mustangs (2-2, District 4-4A Division I) are trying to avoid the same outcome as last year where they finished the season with a six-game losing streak that started with a 34-14 loss to La Vernia.
Timmerman called the Bears offensive attack “a very heavy run-spread team.”
“They want to run the ball with the quarterback in the back, run it back to the quarterback, then downhill thanks to their physical, big offensive line,” he said. “So they’re going to do some unbalanced packages and things like that to try to get you to overcommit to one side and then run it to the back side. But they’ll throw it … (and) get it out to some of those kids in the perimeter, the athletes. He throws a good deep ball, so the quarterback’s going to take some shots. They’re pretty multiple. They want to be able to run the football for sure.”
La Vernia junior quarterback Cooper Null has completed 18 of 37 passes for 366 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions, has 43 carries for 393 yards and nine touchdowns and has caught four passes for 43 yards. Senior quarterback Beckett Richardson has completed 12 of 13 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns and has caught six passes for 113 yards and a score in three games.
Junior running back Ty Carter has 41 rushes for 352 yards and six touchdowns.
Junior receiver Wyatt Frank has 10 receptions for 252 yards and four touchdowns.
The Mustangs will counter with senior defensive back Gregory Lemon, who has 30 tackles, half of a sack, an interception, three pass deflections, two caused fumbles and a fumble recovery, senior defensive end Kaleb Bielfeldt, who has 29 tackles, four sacks and eight quarterback hurries, senior linebacker Doak Timmerman, who has 29 tackles and one fumble recovery, and senior linebacker Brody Graham, who has 28 tackles and a pass deflection.
The coach said the Mustangs must be disciplined.
“Defensively, just letting our eyes around the back end and hit the run, but they’re going to show us some run in then throw ball down the field,” Timmerman said, “so our eyes have to be right, and we still have to be aggressive to the box. You can’t stand back and watch. Once you know, you have to go defensively.”
On the other side of the ball, La Vernia senior linebacker Remmington Rohde has 39 tackles, senior defensive end Kole Farmer has 37 tackles, three sacks and a fumble recovery, and senior safety and linebacker Sean Garza has 23 tackles, an interception, fumble recovery and a pass deflection. Sophomore linebacker Colton Awbrey has two sacks.
Timmerman noted much of that is because of the defensive line. As a team, La Vernia has 37 quarterback hurries and nine sacks in four games.
“What they’re trying to do and how they’re doing it, you’ve got to make sure that you account for it,” he said. “They’re going to play that (safety) down and let you throw the ball with pressure coming at you. Offensively, we have young quarterbacks still. So our two young quarterbacks have to be able to distribute the ball where it needs to go based on alignment. We have to continue getting confident throwing the ball down the field, and we have to make some plays at receiver. We’re going to get some reach, and they have to get open.”
Sophomore quarterbacks Anderson Liscum and Crawford Mattox are both available. Liscum has completed 22 of 50 passes for 318 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions and Mattox has completed 15 of 32 passes for 137 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in six quarters.
But the workhorse has been senior running back Joaquin Aguilar, who has 57 rushes for 398 yards and six scores and has four receptions for 44 yards. Senior receivers Kayden Langbein has 14 receptions for 140 yards and two touchdowns and Atreyu Machacek has 10 catches for 139 yards and a score. In two games, freshman running back Diego Aguilar has 21 carries for 79 yards and a touchdown and three receptions for 32 yards.
Last year against the Bears, the Mustangs found out something Timmerman believes they can apply to this contest. Marble Falls trailed 7-0 in the first quarter that ballooned to 20-0 in the second. A touchdown before the intermission cut into the deficit. And though La Vernia scored a touchdown to increase the lead to 27-7, Marble Falls scored late to trim the deficit to 27-13 headed into the final quarter. Marble Falls was unable to recover an onside kick and the Bears sealed the outcome with another touchdown for a 34-14 victory.
A mix of Marble Falls stops and miscues allowed the Bears to build a comfortable lead.
“Our kids can play with them,” the coach said. “We just ball out and make sure we’re on time. I think that’s what we need to work on with some of our younger kids is the intensity of what they’re bringing.”
The 59-0 shutout of San Antonio Brackenridge last week illustrated the schemes and work the Mustangs have done.
“It’s early mornings and late nights and long weeks,” Timmerman said. “And I think a win, especially to even our record up to 2-2, everybody’s a little excited, a little easy going. But, man, it’s still just a grind. You don’t get any time out there and enjoy it. We enjoyed it on Friday night, working again for the next week. And you don’t even think about last week. You want them to enjoy it. We’ve got to move on.”
CAPTION: Marble Falls senior receiver Atreyu Machacek is among the statistics leaders for the Mustangs. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
