Burnet football team facing Lubbock Cooper in regional quarterfinals Nov. 30
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
BURNET — The Burnet High School football team forced a change in Thanksgiving plans. But few Bulldogs mind.
That’s because Burnet (9-3) will meet Lubbock Cooper (10-2), the District 2-3A champion, at 2 p.m. Nov. 30 at Gordon Wood Stadium, 3206 Milam Drive in Brownwood, in the regional quarterfinals.
The Pirates are led by senior quarterback Stanton Keane, who has thrown for more than 1,400 yards and rushed for more than 1,200 yards on the season. Burnet head coach Kurt Jones said the Bulldogs have faced some salty quarterbacks during the season — some who can pass well and others who are tremendous runners. But Keane does both well, he said.[box]GAMETIME
Burnet Bulldogs vs. Lubbock Cooper Pirates in Class 3A regional quarterfinals
KICKOFF: 2 p.m. Nov. 30 at Gordon Wood Stadium, 3206 Milam Drive in Brownwood
LISTEN: Tune in to KBEY 103.9 FM, at KBEYFM.com or on Northland Channel 15[/box]
“He’s a big kid,” Jones said. “He runs the ball hard for them out of a spread format. He’s a bit of a dual threat, a (Tim) Tebow type.”
Junior running back Dakota Gruben has logged more than 1,000 rushing yards, while senior tight end Evan McHugh leads Cooper with more than 500 yards receiving.
“A lot of their passing game revolves around establishing a good running game,” Jones said. “You don’t get to this level with just one or two good effective players. You have to have several.”
The Cooper defense is led by senior inside linebacker Marcos Lopez and allows about 25 points and 250 yards of total offense a game.
“You start trying to play and figure out a weakness, and you find out they’re very, very solid on defense,” Jones said. “They’re going to be lined up correctly, and they’re going to run to the ball.”
The Bulldogs advanced to the third round of the playoffs after a 55-35 thumping of Kennedale on Nov. 22.
Burnet gave Kennedale a heavy dose of senior running back Trenton Hafley, who finished the contest with 18 rushes for 144 yards and five touchdowns and caught seven passes for 110 yards and a touchdown.
“He had a great night,” Jones said. “Not only on the stuff fans would notice, but he also blocked well and ran hard and caught well for us. We certainly didn’t focus in on Trenton any heavier than anybody else. We have a lot of talented kids and have a lot to work with. We took what the (Kennedale) defense gave us.”
The first offensive drives for each team foreshadowed how the game would play out.
The Bulldogs defense forced a three-and-out, and the offense scored a touchdown on fourth-and-23. Two plays earlier, Burnet was called for holding, which wiped out a touchdown.
“That set the tempo for the night,” Jones said. “That definitely made the conditions three to four degrees warmer.”
Defensively, the Bulldogs limited Wildcats junior running back Juwan Washington to 45 yards in the first half. He finished with 170 yards, all unofficial.
“The kids played hard the entire game,” Jones said. “You heard a lot about (Washington.) The defense had to answer questions all week about how well would we be able to defend the running game. We played physical and tackled well. He had to earn everything he got. We never let him break loose. I’m very proud of our defense.”
Hafley scored three of Burnet’s five touchdowns in the first half that led to a 35-8 halftime advantage.
“It’s definitely how you want to start,” Jones said. “It’s how you want to play the whole game. It boiled down to which team could come into the stadium and block out the weather.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com