Burnet strikes fast and often in 45-0 win over Gatesville
Burnet High School's Jonathan Brown (right) races around the end against the Gatesville defense during a District 8-3A game Oct. 18 at Bulldog Stadium. The Bulldogs dominated all facets of the game on their way to a 45-0 win over the Hornets. The win puts Burnet at 1-1 in district as the team prepares for a trip to Liberty Hill on Oct. 25 against the Panthers. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton
DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR
BURNET — The tough loss the previous week against Brownwood didn’t haunt the Burnet Bulldogs on Oct. 18 when they dominated the Gatesville Hornets, 45-0.
“Coming off last week, where we had a good second half defensively but didn’t have a good one in the first half, we knew we had to put together a complete game this week,” Bulldogs junior linebacker Kody Hall said. “And that’s what we did.”
And it wasn’t just a complete defensive game, the Bulldogs played solidly in all three facets of the game: offense, defense and special teams. The previous week, Burnet gave up 21 points on special teams. On Oct. 18, the special teams stopped Gatesville for a major loss on a fourth down and punting situation and then blocked a punt.
“Special teams, that was the key tonight,” Hall said. The win puts Burnet at 1-1 in district play.
Burnet’s special teams set the tone almost right out of the gate. The Bulldogs started the game with the ball, but the offense found themselves in a fourth-and-six situation in the drive. Austin Huff’s punt drove the Gatesville returner back deep in his own territory, but he didn’t get far before a swarm of green arrived.
In the process, the Burnet special teams forced a fumble, setting up quarterback Derek Kiser and the offense with great field position on Gatesville’s 18-yard line.
Four plays later, Kiser hit Brock Foster for a 15-yard touchdown pass and a 7-0 lead.
It was the closest the game would be.
A couple of drives later, Gatesville again had to punt, but this time, the Bulldogs caught the punter well behind the line of scrimmage, again giving Kiser and company great field position.
On the second play of the drive, Kiser hit a sliding Joel Johnson in the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown. Huff’s point after made it 14-0.
Where the offense was explosive and capitalized on every thing Gatesville gave them, the Burnet defense was smothering and controlling.
“Our defense is really playing some great football,” head coach Kurt Jones said. “They had a great game tonight. I can’t say enough about how they played.”
The first time Gatesville made it into Burnet territory was with less than four minutes left in the first half. But by that time, Burnet had amassed a 31-0 lead.
The Hornets eventually worked their way down to the Burnet 17-yard line but couldn’t convert on a fourth-and-four situation, giving the ball back to the Bulldogs with less than 30 seconds left in the half.
Burnet’s offense added touchdowns on a Kiser-to-Foster 21-yard completion at the 10:10 mark in the second; a Trenton Hafley one-yard run with 8:36 left in the second (set up by a Eric Walker fumble recovery); a 25-yard Huff field goal with four minutes left in the half; a Kiser to Johnson 34-yard touchdown pass at the 8:24 mark in the third quarter; and a Hafley three-yard run at the 3:45 mark in the third.
“Derek had another solid game,” Jones said. “We just played great all around. This was a huge win for us coming off last week.”
Hall said the team will enjoy the win against Gatesville for a little while, but then it’s into the film room to study the Panthers and prepare for the 7:30 p.m. kickoff Oct. 25 in Liberty Hill.
daniel@thpicayune.com