Liberty Hill rolls over Burnet Bulldogs, 59-14
EDITOR DANIEL CLIFTON
BURNET — It was a tough and cold night for the Burnet Bulldogs as they faced their Texas 29 rivals, the Liberty Hill Panthers in a District 13-4A Division I contest.
The Panthers jumped out to a 14-0 lead before Burnet bounced back, but the bounce was short-lived as Liberty Hill went on to win 59-14. The loss drops Burnet to 0-3 in district and 4-4 overall. Liberty Hill, at 2-1 in district and 5-2 overall, stays in the thick of the district race.
The Panthers, using a mix-direction offense that relied heavily on the run game, appeared almost unstoppable at times. Liberty Hill would grab a few yards here and a few yards there but then explode for a nice gain.
Liberty Hill’s Kyle Harrison recorded four of the Panthers’ eight touchdowns on the night. Two of the other touchdowns came off Liberty Hill recovering Burnet fumbles and returning them the distance for scores.
Burnet, however, kept fighting.
After falling behind 14-0 early in the game, Burnet took over on its own 28-yard line. With a mix of running and passing, the Bulldogs worked their way down to Liberty Hills’ 2-yard line.
Things appeared to have stalled as Burnet faced a fourth-and-goal situation from the 2–yard line. Instead of calling in the field goal squad, the Bulldogs lined up and went for it.
Chandler Galban took the snap, turned to his left, and began to roll that way but then pitched the ball to his brother, Sterling Galban, who was racing in the opposite direction.
The Panthers bit, but Sterling wasn’t looking for a run to the end zone. Instead, the senior receiver cocked his arm back and launched a pass to teammate Ian Carter in the end zone for the touchdown.
The Bulldogs’ second touchdown followed a more traditional pattern. With just over a minute left in the game, Burnet set up in a third-and-short situation on the Panthers’ 11-yard line. Chandler Galban took the snap. He found Sterling in the end zone for the Bulldogs’ last score of the night.
The Bulldogs head to Lampasas on Friday, Nov. 3, with both teams hunting for their first district win. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. Listen to the game on KMPN 95.9 FM or at KBEYFM.com starting with a 7 p.m. pregame show.