Marble Falls football visits Burnet in district opener
CAPTION: Marble Falls senior running back Joaquin Aguilar has been the offensive focal point throughout the season. In six games, he has rushed for almost 500 yards on the season. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Burnet and Marble Falls high school football teams will play for the 111th time at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10, with plenty on the line during this Burnet County showdown.
It’s the District 4-4A Division I opener. And with five teams in the district and four playoff spots available, there’s a high chance the winner will have the inside track to qualifying for the postseason. That’s because the winner also obtains the first tiebreaker if the two squads finish with the same record, and that’s head-to-head outcome.
“We’re pushing for one more win, one more opportunity to stay together in week 11,” Mustangs head coach Keri Timmerman said. “And I think that’s our goal.”
“He’s going to find a way to get those kids motivated again and attack,” Burnet head coach Ben Speer said. “So we’re going to get their best shot. That’s for sure. And you know, we better match that same intensity and that same desire. We better give them our best as well, and it’s going to be a battle. I believe it’s going to be a battle.
Timmerman said the Bulldogs are better than their 2-4 record would indicate.
“They’re still a good football team,” he said. “I think if you look at what they put on tape, they play really hard. They play sound defense. They played a team that beat them really bad last year with (Georgetown East View) and held them and put points on the board, and I think that shows growth. They’re kind of similar to where we are, and there’s some young players that need to make plays, and there’s some guys that have come along to the point where you try to save some people and develop others early in the year. And now you’re at the point where you’re like, ‘Hey, the playmakers have got to make plays, put them on the field.’ I think that, like anything else, they’ve played some good teams. I think that you have to look at the body of work they’ve played and how they’ve played. They found ways to win against San Angelo (Lake View), found ways to win against (Little River) Academy. It’s like anything else. They’ve got to put things together. So our job is to help keep them from putting it all together. I think coach Speer did a great job with how they take care of their kids in the program.”
Burnet is averaging 204 rushing yards per game and 5.9 yards per carry and 92 passing yards per contest and 11.3 yards per completion.
“I think that they’re a well-coached offense,” Keri Timmerman said, adding that he sees how coaches are trying to use their playmakers on that side of the ball “in how they develop their playmakers and how they use them in space and trying to be physical in the run.
Senior running back Josiah Coronado has 97 carries for 562 yards and three touchdowns, senior running back Peyton Lopez, who has 36 carries for 248 yards and a score, and junior quarterback Bryan Johnson has 38 carries for 331 yards and eight touchdowns.
Burnet sophomore quarterback Fisher Powell has completed 37 of 84 passes for 460 yards, four touchdowns and six interceptions and ha s17 carries for 32 yards and a score.
Senior receiver and defensive back Matthew Williams has 17 catches for 352 yards and three touchdowns and has 17 tackles, two interceptions, three pass deflections and cause a fumble.
“Matt Williams obviously is a really confident DB and a good receiver,” Timmerman said. I’ve seen him in place for two years. Bryan Johnson does a great job at quarterback. He’s a kid they can get the ball to in multiple ways in the backfield and out in the perimeter. I think they have kids who can play. I think their running back, Coronado, does a great job. I think he’s a physical back. They have kids who understand what they’re trying to do and how they’re trying to do it, and they play really, really well. There hasn’t been a game that I’ve watched of theirs where I’ve felt like they’re out of the game.”
Marble Falls (3-3) will counter with senior defensive back Gregory Lemon, who has 43 tackles, two interceptions, a fumble recovery and three pass deflections, senior Quavyon Alexander, who has 39 tackles, two interceptions and caused two fumbles, senior linebacker Doak Timmerman, who has 37 tackles and a fumble, sophomore safety Clayton Thompson, who has 36 tackles, a pass deflection and an interception, and senior defensive end Kaleb Bielfeldt, who has 32 tackles, five sacks, a pass deflection and an interception.
“I thought what they did against Llano (a 50-18 loss Sept. 12) in the first quarter defensively was just fantastic,” Speer said, pointing out the Mustangs had a 3-0 lead after the first quarter. “It looked like it gave them fits for a little bit.”
Offensively, Marble Falls is averaging 113 passing yards per contest and 11.1 yards per completion and 170 rushing yards per game and 5.6 yards per carry.
The Mustangs have used two sophomore quarterbacks. Crawford Mattox has completed 31 of 65 passes for 295 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions and has 33 carries for 128 yards and a score in four games. Anderson Liscum has completed 24 of 56 passes for 329 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions and has six carries for 16 yards and a score in three games.
“I think (coach Timmerman) got his quarterback,” Speer said of Mattox. “That quarterback needs some reps. You can definitely tell they have a good plan they’re trying to implement. I think coach Timmerman does a good job of trying to set those guys up successfully on offense. Sometimes they struggle with the execution, but we can all do that at times. I know he’s doing everything he can possibly with what he’s got.”
The Mustangs’ work horses are a pair of brothers. Senior Joaquin Aguilar has 77 rushes for 495 and 17 touchdowns and five catches for 46 yards. Freshman Diego Aguilar has 39 carries for 128 yards and a score and four catches for 34 yards. Senior fullback Doak Timmerman has 17 carries for 111 yards and four touchdowns.
Top receiving targets are senior Atreyu Machacek, who has 18 receptions for 195 yards and a touchdown, and senior Kaden Langbein, who has 16 catches for 160 yards and two scores. Sophomore tight end Olen Dalton has four receptions for 73 yards.
The Bulldogs will counter with senior linebacker Adler Goehring, who has 72 tackles and two quarterback hurries, senior defensive back Cason O’Hair, who has 46 tackles, a quarterback hurry, an interception, four pass deflections and a caused a fumble, senior defensive back Trenton Park, who has 46 tackles and two pass deflections, junior linebacker Johnson, who has 41 tackles, a sack, five quarterback hurries, a fumble recovery and two pass deflections, and junior linebacker Rodrigo Valdez, who has 37 tackles, three sacks, an interception, pass deflection and fumble recovery.
Keri Timmerman acknowledged there aren’t many secrets between the two programs when it comes to skill players.
“Being around each other for 7 on 7, being around each other for all the other things that we get to be a part of, just being in the community and being close to people, I think you start kind of figuring out who they are, who their playmakers are and what that looks like,” he said. “I think we try to focus on personnel in the sense of who and what are they going to try to do, so we can get an idea of where our weaknesses are versus their strengths.”
“Being Marble Falls, it should be enough motivation,” Speer said. “You and I both know the playoffs go through this game for either of us. It depends on this week for us. There’s going to be no stone left unturned there by Keri Timmerman and trying to get those guys going in the right direction. I just hope he doesn’t get it turned (this) week. But after that, and I’ll be his biggest fan.”
CAPTION: Burnet senior running back Josiah Coronado remains a consistently high offensive performer for the Bulldogs and their powered rushing attack. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
