Burnet football uses bye to heal, evaluate

CAPTION: The Burnet defense has been stingy throughout the season thanks to junior linebacker Alex Perez (23), senior defensive linemen Dallas Schweizer (78) and Evan Joiner (56), and junior linebacker Rigo Valdez. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography

The Burnet High School football team enjoyed its bye Oct. 31.

The Bulldogs (3-6, 1-2) have a 35-14 win against Marble Falls in the District 4-4A Division I opener Oct. 10 and losses to Lampasas 28-23 Oct. 17 and to Brownwood 38-7 Oct. 24.

They end the regular season on the road at Stephenville (8-0, 2-0) at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7. In essence Burnet had two weeks to prepare for the No. 2 ranked team in the Class 4A Division I.

In order to give the Bulldogs the best chance at success, head coach Ben Speer gave the players the day off Oct. 27 then conducted practices the next three days.

The practices Oct. 28 and 29 were about doing “some normal morning stuff,” though they were shorter than game week, head coach Ben Speer said. The players also returned after school for weight lifting sessions and special teams work. They had only one morning practice Oct. 30 before enjoying the rest of the weekend.

“As much as we love these kids and being around them, it’s good for them to get away from it and catch their breath and relax,” Speer said. “Relax a little and do something else and then come back. You have a stretch of weeks coming with Stephenville and then the playoffs.”

The top priority for the Bulldogs was getting healthy. Speer noted that some of the team’s stat leaders haven’t been at 100 percent, which meant missing the game against Brownwood or Lampasas or both. On a roster where some are logging significant minutes on both sides of the ball, not having those Bulldogs available means some players may not be exiting the field as much for a breather.

Still, the coach added, the effort continues to shine brightly as the Bulldogs are giving all they have every time they step on the field.

Junior quarterback Bryan Johnson has 88 carries for 604 yards and 14 touchdowns in nine games, while senior running back Josiah Coronado has 116 carries for 711 yards and five scores in eight games.

Sophomore quarterback Fisher Powell has completed 53 of 117 passes for 624 yards, five touchdowns and nine interceptions and has 22 carries for 37 yards and a score. Senior receiver Matthew Williams has 26 receptions for 477 yards and four touchdowns.

Senior linebacker Adler Goehring leads the defense with 92 tackles and two quarterback hurries in eight contests followed by senior safety Trevin Park, who has 70 tackles, a sack, two pass deflections and a fumble recovery, and senior defensive back Cason O’Hair, who has 68 tackles, a quarterback hurry, four pass deflections and an interception.

Junior linebacker Rigo Valdez has 11 quarterback hurries, three sacks, two pass deflections, an interception and two fumble recoveries to go with his 63 tackles. Senior defensive end Riley Howell is the sacks leader with 5.5 and has a fumble recovery.

Coaches also used the bye week to study game film and practices of junior varsity players who may played their way to the Friday night sideline.

“Guys to help with some depth or there’s several of them that have been on the bubble or on the fence with moving up anyway,” Speer said. “So it’s a good time to move some of those guys up and let them to experience that. They’ve earned that through the season. And anytime you can go to the playoffs, it means more practice. It’s more work for everybody – that’s a good thing for the program.” 

CAPTION:Burnet junior quarterback Bryan Johnson has been a big contributor to the Bulldogs’ offensive attack. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography