Burnet takes sting out of Llano Yellow Jackets in 35-14 win
Burnet High School's Trenton Hafley (14) looks for a hole as teammate Travis Freeman (80) keeps Llano's Sawyer Stiles occupied during the Bulldogs-Yellow Jackets game Nov. 1 at Bulldog Field. Burnet improved to 2-2 in district play with a 35-14 win against Llano. The Yellow Jackets slipped to 2-2 in district play. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton
DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR
BURNET — The Burnet Bulldogs took a big step toward securing a playoff spot Nov. 1 when they beat the visiting Llano Yellow Jackets, 35-14.
“There’s still a bunch of crazy scenarios that could happen, but this really helped us,” Burnet head coach Kurt Jones said. “We need to win again next week to drive a nail in and get us in the playoffs.”
The win improved the Bulldogs’ district record to 2-2 while, Llano slipped to 2-2.
Burnet beat the Yellow Jackets with a strong combination of a solid defense and a hard-running offense. Despite Llano quarterback Layton Rabb finding some open receivers with his strong arm and pounding some yards with his own legs, the Burnet defense took out much of the Yellow Jackets’ sting.
“I think, other than a crazy play where their quarterback was able to scramble around for what felt like 15 seconds and made that pass (along the sideline), the defense had a really good night,” Jones said.
On the other side of the ball, the Bulldogs demonstrated a more run-oriented offensive attack.
Jones said he entered the game with a plan to run the ball more and slow the tempo of the game down a bit. Even with a slower tempo, the Bulldogs still managed to put up 35 points. Burnet used a good mix of running backs, including the power of Trenton Hafley, the strength of Brock Foster and finesse of Jonathan Brown.
Brown has been seeing more action the past couple of games.
“He definitely gives us another option,” Jones said. “He’s a bit faster and quicker than Hafley, who’s a strong, powerful runner. And (Brown) had a good game tonight. He ran extremely tough.”
The Bulldogs scored on their second drive of the game. Burnet went 11 plays, covering 75 yards, and ate almost four minutes off the clock when Foster charged in from two yards out.
The entire drive used a good mix of running and passing with several people getting called. Bulldogs quarterback Derek Kiser had pass plays of 10, 15 and 18 yards on the drive.
Llano evened things up in the second quarter when Rabb led them 75 yards in eight plays. It was on this drive when Rabb evaded Burnet defenders in the backfield for what seemed like eternity before he hit Chance Ware along the Bulldogs sideline for a 34-yard pass play.
Llano’s Carter Tatsch finished off the drive on a three-yard run, tying the game at 7-7.
But Burnet answered right back on the next drive. This time, Foster handled the bulk of the work with five consecutive runs to get the Bulldogs down to the Llano 17-yard line. An illegal motion call pushed Burnet back five yards, but Kiser simply hit Blayne Parisher for a 22-yard touchdown pass, putting the Bulldogs back on top, 14-7.
The Bulldogs scored one more time before the break.
The Yellow Jackets came out in the third quarter and drove 82 yards for a score. The big play came when Rabb and Isaac Hutto hooked up for a 44-yard touchdown reception.
But it would be the last time the Yellow Jackets found the end zone.
Burnet added two more scores, a Kiser two-yard run and a Foster three-yard run, to seal the game.
“I’m proud of the boys,” Jones said. “They shook off a tough loss last week (to Liberty Hill) and came out tonight and played a great game.”
Burnet wraps up the regular season Nov. 8 when they travel to Lampasas to take on the Badgers at 7:30 p.m.
daniel@thepicayune.com