Burnet hosts Taylor in home opener
CAPTION: Controlling the line of scrimmage to open holes for the Bulldogs’ rushing attack is the foundation for success as illustrated by Levi Frerking (61), Traeton Nelson and Gideon Robles (68). Senior athlete Bryan Johnson (7) reads the block before committing to a lane. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Burnet High School football team welcomes Taylor at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, in the Bulldogs’ first home game of the season.
The Bulldogs (0-1) lost to Llano 38-31, while the Ducks beat Austin Eastside 40-20 both on Aug. 28.
“They’re your normal Taylor,” Burnet head coach Ben Speer said. “They have some dudes. They’re very, very athletic in certain spots. I know these guys will be excited about coming back here and playing their home opener here and in front of their home crowd and all those things that go with it. They’ll be a good challenge for us.”
Taylor’s offense can be traced back to the connection between quarterback Johnny Guzman and receivers Jeremiah Caldwell and Hayden Talley. Talley, a junior, caught an 78-yard touchdown to cap the Ducks’ first drive of the game. He finished with two catches for 103 yards and a score. Caldwell, a sophomore, caught a 55-yard touchdown en route to catching five passes for 123 yards and three touchdowns.
Guzman completed 11 of 14 passes for 280 yards and five touchdowns.
As a team, the Ducks had 17 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown, which was scored by senior receiver Brendan Church from 34 yards.
Burnet will counter with defensive back Rodrigo Valdez, linebacker Bryan Johnson and lineman Hayden Dean, who are all seniors.
Look for the Bulldogs to display controlled aggression in fighting through blocks to get to the football.
“We’re going to have to be pretty sound in the back end, because they have speed, they have height, and they can get behind you really quick,” Speer said. “We have to force them out of their game plan and force them to get frustrated.”
The Taylor defense is led by linebacker Billy Harrison, defensive end Angel Mendez, and defensive back Cayden Hinesley, who are all seniors, and sophomore Elijah Afenkhena, who is a linebacker and safety.
Burnet will counter with Johnson, sophomore running back Ethan Sanchez and junior quarterbacks Cooper Evans and Fisher Powell.
“In playing them in the past, we know what it’s going to take,” Speer said. “We have to be sound, we have to work on us. We have to get a little bit more experience, we have to get little better communication.”
During the loss to Llano, the Bulldogs churned 322 yards of total offense with 194 coming from the rushing attack on 26 carries. Sanchez accounted for 155 yards and a score on 14 carries and Johnson contributed 40 rushing yards and two touchdowns on nine rushes.
“We were 65 percent run efficiency, and that’s huge,” Speer said.
Following the setback, Speer talked about how the Bulldogs competed, pointing out they had back-to-back turnovers and responded with back-to-back touchdowns.
“That’s awesome,” he said. “That never quit attitude I think is something this community can be very proud of. It’s not about Taylor as much as it is about us getting better. There’s the excitement that often bleeds into the defense and defense bleeds into the offense. They get along well and they’re trying to help each other out and trying to look for each other. And so it’s definitely headed in the right direction.”
