Burnet aims to keep opener winning streak alive against Austin Reagan
One of the strengths of the Burnet High School football team is the depth at offensive line coached by Justin Reeves. Burnet welcomes Austin Reagan to Bulldog Field on Aug. 26 to open the season. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. Listen to the game on KMPN 95.9 FM powered by KBEY or at KBEYFM.com. Live commentary by Chad Nelson and Mark Edmondson starts at 7 p.m. Tune in to KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune at 6:30 p.m. for a preview of all the local teams. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton
JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER
BURNET — The Burnet High School football team is looking to extend an important streak: winning the first game of the season.
The Bulldogs have captured four consecutive season openers but are welcoming a confident Austin Reagan squad to Bulldog Field, 1000 The Green Mile, at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 26.
“We’re in the habit of it right now,” head coach Kurt Jones said. “We want to keep that streak alive, for sure. It’ll be a tough challenge against a 5A team coming in here to play us.”
The Raiders (District 25-5A) went 6-1 in district for a second-place finish. They were 7-4 overall in 2015 with a playoff appearance.
What made Reagan so successful was its running game, though its featured back graduated. Still, there’s plenty of optimism because the bulk of the offensive line returns, including senior offensive tackle Humberto Lopez, a 6-foot 5-inch 275-pound all-district selection, and senior center Daniel Manjarrez.
They’ll be blocking for new senior quarterback Alvin Harper and new featured senior running back Adriean Benn, who ran for 303 yards last season. Senior receiver Mark Wilson leads that group.
The Raiders run the spread offense.
“They have some great athletes they can put up there at wide receiver,” Jones said. “They have a great athlete who plays quarterback for them. They can throw the ball and take off running with him. They’ll put another great athlete (at running back) that’ll be a challenge for our defense to rally to and tackle.”
Defensively, Reagan is led by senior tackle Darien Abraham, a 2015 all-district selection, and junior linebacker Jose James. Jones noted coaches rotate plenty of defensive linemen with the aim of keeping them fresh against high-octane offenses.
“They play solid defense, they’re impressive,” Jones said. “They got athletes over there that can run. That’ll probably be the toughest challenges for our offensive line, our front, to slow them down a little bit.”
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs will start a new quarterback, senior Koby Edwards.
“He has a very strong arm, all those physical tools you would want in a prototypical quarterback,” he said. “I think he’s just lacking the starter’s experience. But that’s improving each week with the reps he gets and improving in our scrimmages and all that kind of stuff. We feel like he’s going to be ready to go to lead the Bulldogs.”
Jones believes the team that wins this contest will take care of the details, protect the ball and execute the game plan very well.
“All those things that sound real boring to the average fan, but they’re really true,” he said. “There’s a reason why coaches continue to repeat those things as being critical to winning a ballgame. And those will be certainly super important come Friday.”
Listen to the game on KMPN 95.9 FM powered by KBEY or at KBEYFM.com. Live commentary by Chad Nelson and Mark Edmondson starts at 7 p.m. Tune in to KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune at 6:30 p.m. for a preview of all the local teams.
jfierro@thepicayune.com