Burnet ending three-game road trip vs. speedy Waco University

JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER

BURNET — The Burnet High School football team aims to wrap up a three-game road trip with a win Sept. 18.

But standing in the Bulldogs’ way is Waco University. The two kick off at 7:30 p.m. at Waco ISD Stadium, 1401 S. New Road in Waco. Listen to the game on 106.5 FM powered by KBEY or at KBEYFM.com under “Burnet football” starting with a 7 p.m. pregame show.

Burnet head coach Kurt Jones said the Trojans’ 0-3 record is deceiving because of the opponents they’ve lost to: Killeen Harker Heights (25-7) on Sept. 11; Georgetown East View (34-28) on Sept. 4; and Belton (49-12) on Aug. 29. The Trojans are currently on a 19-game losing streak.

“They’ve been playing good people,” he said. “It’s not like they’re losing to nobodies.”

Look for Waco University to try to establish a power run game with quarterback Matt Guerra and running back Nick Ward. Both are juniors. 

“University is a very athletic team, they bring a lot of speed to the table,” Burnet said. “The Ward kid is very explosive. Guerra can make a lot of plays with his feet as well. Those two guys coupled together are as explosive a quarterback-running back duo that we’ve seen this year for sure and maybe for a long time. It’ll be a challenge to contain them. We need to do a good job tackling and getting a lot of people to the football.”

The Trojans also feature speed on the defensive side. Jones said he wasn’t sure if the Bulldogs (2-1) have faced a faster opponent in the first month of the season.

“We’re going to have to be creative with our offense and do some things that might slow them down and put them in some tough situations,” he said. “We feel like if we do that, if we go execute our stuff, it’ll be real important that we protect our quarterback and then do a great job when we run the ball. We got a lock on a man, block them and stay after them, and hopefully, that’ll produce some things for us offensively.”

Burnet senior quarterback Austin Moore has completed 41 passes for 580 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions in two contests.

Junior receiver Steven Gallardo has 20 catches for 325 yards and three touchdowns and 10 carries for 36 yards and two scores. Senior receiver Joel Johnson has eight receptions for 146 yards and two touchdowns, and senior athlete Brock Foster has 16 rushes for 58 yards and five catches for 108 yards and a touchdown.

Jones said Burnet coaches are happy with the progress of the offense but notes there’s plenty players can do to improve.

“Our offensive linemen are still growing up,” he said. “They’re still taking strides towards bettering themselves from week to week. We can be better in our quarterback, our running back, our wide receiver positions. There’s things we can do better. So we’ve all got to keep on pushing and encouraging one another to get better from week to week.”

jfierro@thepicayune.com