Missed extra point allows Bullpups to hold on for win
BURNET — In a game of long offensive drives and close calls it took a sack of the Taylor quarterback by Cameron Chafin and Hanner Shipley on the last play of the game at the 15-yard line for the Burnet Middle School eighth-grade white team to preserve a 28-27 victory recently.
That pushed Burnet to a district record of 2-1.
The Bullpups took the opening kickoff and set up at their own 35-yard line and used five plays to score the opening points. John West caught a pass for 15 yards, and Cory Cavender ended the drive by with 25-yard run.
The extra points, which proved to be the margin of victory, were provided by Taylor Barksdale holding and Caleb Willming kicking.
The Ducks came back with a 12-play drive of 63 yards aided by a fourth down offsides penalty from Burnet’s defense and a interference call.
The second quarter found each team exchanging punts until Burnet took the ball at the 48-yard line and put together a seven-play scoring drive with a mixture of passes and runs.
Cavender managed to run it in from the 14-yard line behind some nice blocking from Ben Rundzieher, Kody Hall and Jacob McElroy and a downfield block from Travis Massingill. The kick was good, and Burnet went up, 14-7.
Taylor set up from its 40 and drove the 60 yards in 13 plays to score but missed the extra point with less than a minute to play in the first half.
Cavender received the kickoff and with two clearing blocks and some second-effort running and spinning, managed to slip down the Taylor sideline for a touchdown on the return for a 21-13 half-time lead.
Taylor took the opening kickoff and mounted a 14-play, time-consuming drive to make the score 21-19 when its two-point try failed.
Burnet started at its 42-yard line and drove the 58 yards in eight plays to score on a nice pass and catch from Chafin to Shipley to begin the fourth quarter. The extra point split the uprights, 28-19.
The Ducks again drove 60 yards in 10 plays highlighted by a pass completion and fumble in the end zone that was recovered by a Taylor player. This time the two-point run was good though Taylor trailed, 28-27.
A chop block penalty against the Bullpups put them in a hole at their 20, forcing them to punt with two minutes, 30 seconds remaining.
Taylor had the ball at the 45-yard line and ran six plays to get the ball down to the 15 with only seconds left in the game.
The Taylor quarterback tried to roll out to pass but was sacked to end the game.
Hall had nine tackles for his season high. Curtis Readance added seven tackles, while Massingill recorded five, Barksdale and Wyatt Shepperd each had four tackles.
Chafin recorded five tackles with two for losses, while West had three tackles and one knockdown pass.
Jose Castruita, Jeremiah Chapa, Christian Saldivar and McElroy each had two tackles, and Jared McHazlett, Shipley and Rundzieher each had one tackle.