La Vega ends Burnet’s district winning streak

DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR

WACO — The Burnet Bulldogs looked to cinch up a district title Oct. 31, but the Waco La Vega Pirates dashed that idea with a strong performance and a 33-28 win.

The loss drops the Bulldogs to 3-1 in District 13-4A Division I and elevates the Pirates to 3-1 as well

The Pirates’ Cameron Henry racked up a 170 rushing yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns to lead La Vega to the victory, though his teammates helped out quite bit.

Burnet had a chance late in the game. After Henry scored on a 21-yard run with just over two minutes left in the game for a 33-21 La Vega lead, things looked bleak for the Bulldogs. But Burnet’s Austin Moore hooked up with Blake Foster for a 34-yard pass to put the Bulldogs first and 10 on La Vega’s 28-yard line. But three incomplete passes later, the Bulldogs faced a fourth-and-10 situation with under a minute left in the game.

Moore, however, connected with one of his favorite targets of the night, Joel Johnson, for a 28-yard touchdown strike to narrow the lead to 33-28.

A successful onside kick could have put Burnet right back in position, but the bounce favored La Vega, which took control of the ball and ran out the clock.

Burnet started strong, jumping out to a 14-0 lead. On its first drive of the game, Burnet managed to get to its own 44-yard line. But that’s all the Bulldogs needed as Moore hit Johnson for a 56-yard touchdown pass. Alex Melvin’s extra point was good, and Burnet went up 7-0.

On their next drive, the Bulldogs’ Brock Foster started things with an eight-yard run. Then Moore hit him for a 31-yard completion. Two plays later, Steven Gallardo punched it in from 35 yards out to give Burnet a 14-0 lead.

La Vega, however, didn’t give up.

At the 6:56 mark in the second quarter, Pirates quarterback Jamal Williams teamed up with Parrish Cobb for a 64-yard touchdown. The two would do it again with 1:13 left in the half, this time for a 25-yard score. The point-after attempt failed, but the Pirates only trailed by one going into the half.

In the second half, La Vega scored two more times to go up 26-14. Burnet jumped right back into the game after giving up 26 unanswered points when Moore hit Gallardo for a 61-yard touchdown strike. La Vega added one more touchdown to stretch its lead to 33-21.

Burnet seemed poised to make a come-from-behind run, but the ball just didn’t bounce their way on the onside kick.

The Bulldogs fall to 7-1 overall.

Next week, Burnet hosts the Lampasas Badgers at 7:30 p.m. at Bulldog Field for the last regular-season game.

daniel@thepicayune.com

SCORE BY QUARTERS

FIRST QUARTER

B – Joel Johnson 56-yard pass from Austin Moore (Alex Melvin kick), 6:13

B – Steven Gallardo 35-yard run (Melvin kick), 1:31

SECOND QUARTER

LV – Parrish Cobb 65-yard pass from Jamal Williams (Jaime Rodriguez kick), 6:56

LV – Brandon Benson 25-yard pass from Williams (kick no good), 1:24

THIRD QUARTER

LV – Nick Ward 25-yard run (kick no good), 4:43

LV – Benson 59-yard pass from Williams (Rodriguez kick), 3:03

B – Gallardo 67-yard pass from Moore (Melvin kick), 2:51

FOURTH QUARTER

LV – Cameron Henry 21-yard run (Rodriguez kick), 1:37

B – Joel Johnson 28-yard pass from Moore (Melvin kick), :49

TEAM STATS

BURNET — Total yards, 453; rushes-yards, 23-135; passing, 318; interceptions, 1; completions-attempts-interceptions, 15-32-1; turnovers, 2

LA VEGA — Total yards, 506; rushes-yards, 42-334; passing, 172; interceptions, 0; completions-attempts-interceptions, 9-16-0; fumbles-lost, 1-1

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING – (Burnet) Brock Foster 17-100, Steven Gallardo 5-34-1 touchdown, Austin Moore 1-1

PASSING – (Burnet) Moore 15-32-318-3 touchdowns-1 interception

RECEIVING – (Burnet) Joel Johnson 5-145-2 touchdowns, Gallardo 4-95-1 touchdown, Foster 4-67, Cody Jones 2-11

FUMBLE RECOVERY – Michael Lindley 1