Marble Falls football uses bye week to heal, rest
CAPTION: Marble Falls junior linebacker Branson Bunting (9), senior cornerback Quavyon Alexander (12), senior defensive end Kaleb Bielfeldt (0) and junior Jesus Rodriguez have fielded a defense that forces opponents to earn their yards and points. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School football team took its bye Oct. 24 while the rest of District 4-4A Division I played.
Head coach Keri Timmerman said the bye week came at the right time days before the announcements of changes to game schedules in the Highland Lakes. Area teams moved up their kickoff times by 90 minutes in anticipation of inclement weather.
The Mustangs used the week “to heal up and clean up some things,” he said.
The Mustangs didn’t practice Oct. 20, only film study and other basic tasks to ensure their bodies got enough work and still rested. They called for three practices after that.
The practices were filled with addressing the basics of the sport when it comes to proper technique for hand placement, tackling, footwork and other tasks coaches see vital to success.
“It’s been a long 10 weeks,” Timmerman said. “A little more group stuff just trying to get stuff cleaned up in our front and back end. And then with our skill players trying to create some competition. We’ve had some things that we do at the end of practice with our junior varsity and freshmen and trying to make sure they know we appreciate them and how hard they work. We try to give them a chance to be as successful as possible. We have competition stuff we try to do with them. But it’s shorter practices for three days to give us a little bit more recovery just because it’s such a late bye week.”
Going into the season, the Mustangs knew they would have a mix of solid veteran leadership from senior Doak Timmerman at linebacker, Kaleb Bielfeldt at defensive line, Gregory Lemon at defensive back, Joaquin Aguilar at running back and lineman Raul Moran.
They also knew that other positions would need time to get used to the speed and physicality of the varsity level.
“I’ve also seen a lot of growth in what we do offensively,” Timmerman said. “I’ve seen our quarterbacks grasp a little bit more every week, I’ve seen our receivers get a little bit more confident, our line ges a little bit more confident. So those are things you want to see as you move forward. You always want to be successful, you always want to come out with the ‘W.’ I think early in the creation of this program and what we’re trying to do, seeing those kids play hard together and understanding the expectations on the field, in practices and in the classroom – that’s been exciting to see.”
The other neat element is witnessing the way the veterans have embraced their younger teammates and how they are helping them understand their individual roles in a play and in the scheme. It’s common to see the older Mustangs point something out to a teammate in between plays or watch them huddle together to have a quick conversation before moving on to the next play.
“I think we have great relationships in our locker room,” the coach said. “Senior leadership is a big part of building success, and our senior leadership has been really good. We have a great group of kids, and they love our younger kids. I think there’s a lot of mentorship that happens, which I’m very grateful for.”
No better example of that is how the Mustangs break out of their team huddles with the word “family.” But it’s not a word that is used immediately.
“We don’t break out for family until those kids have earned the right to say that,” he said. “We have a leadership council. And we talk about what does that look like for these kids and really for them. It was a matter of they didn’t feel like it was there until right before Devine (36-14 win Oct. 3). They said, ‘We’re ready. We’re ready to meet and talk about that.’ When you see that kind of confidence in the seniors right down to the freshmen and the young kids playing, it does a lot for your building.”
The Mustangs finished their pre-district schedule 3-3, winning three games in a season for the first time since 2021. They are still looking for their first district win with two contests remaining. They finish the regular season at home against Brownwood (5-3, 2-0) Friday, Nov. 7.
“I never once looked at Burnet (a 35-14 loss Oct. 10) and looked at our kids and thought ‘they don’t think they can win,'” the coach said. “We thought we could till the last play. That excites me because that talks about the culture of your team and what you’re trying to build and what the younger kids are seeing.”
Throughout the 65-7 loss to Stephenville, ranked No. 2 the Class 4A Division I poll, Timmerman, who is in his second year at the helm, pointed out one of the most vital traits of the Mustangs most don’t want to coach – effort.
“One thing I see from a lot of our kids is their fight,” he said. “That’s the one thing you want to see early as you’re coming in new. The hard thing about coming into your program is your seniors. They’re getting used to you, you’re getting used to them. (This year) they’re my seniors, and they understand the expectations of practices and they understand the expectations of the program. And so that’s good to see. You get into a season and things happen – injuries. You spend so much time together that you figure out who your team is. And I’m really excited about the bond the kids have and the work they have put in. We always want to win; I’m never going to say I’m OK with losing. But I am proud of the way our kids fight.”
