Dominating second half propels Burnet over Robinson, 45-23

DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR

ROBINSON — The Bulldogs combination of Austin Moore to Joel Johnson stymied the Robinson Rockets’ defense Oct. 17 with seven passes of 20 yards or more and three touchdowns on the Burnet football team’s way to a 45-23 win.

On the other side of the ball, the Burnet defense forced six turnovers, two interceptions and four fumbles to keep the explosive Rockets’ offense bottled up.

The win improved Burnet to 2-0 in District 13-4A play and 6-1 overall.

Burnet’s Moore had 10 passes for 20 yards or more on the night including 58- and 30-yard touchdown passes to Johnson and a 21-yard touchdown pass to Brock Foster. It was Johnson’s night, though. The Rockets’ defense just couldn’t find a way to keep the ball away from him, and they paid for it over and over.

Burnet’s first scoring drive in the first quarter came about after the Bulldogs’ Cory Cavender picked off a pass from Robinson quarterback Michael Davila. On the first play of the Bulldogs’ drive, Moore and Johnson combined for a 36-yard pass play.

Six plays later, the two teamed up again for a 14-yard pass play that put the ball on the Rockets’ 1-yard line. On the next play, Steven Gallardo punched it in for a 7-0 Burnet lead.

The next Rockets’ turnover came on the following drive when Burnet’s Darius Johnson snagged a Davila pass, which eventually turned into a 40-yard Alex Melvin field goal to make it 10-0.

But Robinson cut into the Burnet lead with a Le’Vonte Owens touchdown. A few drives later, the Rockets evened the game on a 38-yard field goal.

The two teams headed into their locker rooms at halftime in a 10-10 tie, but Burnet’s defense had forced three turnovers: two interceptions and one fumble.

On the opening drive of the second half, Robinson’s Owens showed why defensive coordinators wake up at night shaking after watching his highlight reels. He had a 25-yard run and then capped it off a few plays later when he rumbled in from 28 yards out, giving the Rockets a 17-10 lead. After scoring 17 unanswered points, the momentum appeared to be in the Rockets’ favor.

But Burnet wasn’t about to give in. Instead, the Moore-Johnson combo struck again for two big plays. Facing a third-and-22 situation, Moore connected with Johnson on a 24-yard pass completion and a first down. Then, three plays later, Moore hit Johnson for a 46-yard pass to put the Bulldogs on the Rockets’ 2-yard line. Two more plays, and Wesley Shackleford bounced in from two yards out to tie it up.

A fourth Robinson turnover put the ball right back in Moore’s hands. And he made the Rockets pay for their mistake.

A 21-yard pass to Johnson followed by an 11-yard throw to Gallardo put Burnet on Robinson’s 5-yard line. A holding penalty pushed the Bulldogs back to the 14-yard line, but it didn’t matter. Moore just found Johnson for a 14-yard touchdown pass and a 24-17 Burnet lead.

The next time the Bulldogs had the ball, Moore and Johnson connected for a 21-yard pass right before they hooked up for a 58-yard touchdown play.

Just as it looked like Burnet was about to break open the game, Owens struck. On a fourth-and-3 situation, the 6-foot-3-inch running back burned the Bulldogs on a 55-yard touchdown run to make it a 31-23 game in favor of the Bulldogs.

But a Moore-to-Foster 21-yard touchdown pass followed by a Moore-to-Johnson 30-yard touchdown pass put it well out of reach for the Rockets. The Bulldogs defense shut out Robinson in the last few minutes with two more fumble recoveries.

The loss drops Robinson to 1-1 in district play.

After two district road games, Burnet returns home Oct. 24, when they host Gatesville at 7:30 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium, 1000 The Green Mile in Burnet.

daniel@thepicayune.com

SCORE BY QUARTERS

FIRST QUARTER

B – Steven Gallarod 1-yard run (Alex Melvin kick), 5:37

B – Alex Melvin 40-yard field goal, 2:28

SECOND QUARTER

R – Le’vonte Owens 19-yard pass from Gage Pearson (Chase Allison kick), 9:48

R – Chase Allison 37-yard field goal, 0:00

THIRD QUARTER

R – Owens 28-yard run (Allison kick), 8:42

B – Wesley Shackelford 3-yard run (Melvin kick), 5:57

B – Joel Johnson 14-yard pass from Austin Moore (Melvin kick), 4:17

B – Johnson 58-yard pass from Moore (Melvin kick), 1:27

R – Owens 45-yard run (kick failed), :13

FOURTH QUARTER

B – Brock Foster 21-yard pass from Moore (Melvin kick), 11:00

B – Johnson 30-yards pass from Moore (Melvin kick), 7:38

TEAM STATS

BURNET: Total yards, 537; Rushes-yards, 21-57; Passing, 480; Interceptions, 0; Comp-att-int, 27-39-0; Fumbles-lost, 0-0

WACO ROBINSON: Total yards, 454; Rushes-yards, 25-107; Passing, 139; Interceptions, 2; Comp-att-int, 18-27-2; Fumbles-lost, 4-4

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING – (Burnet) Cory Cavender 7-23, Steven Gallardo 6-18-1 touchdown, Wesley Shackelford 3-12-1 touchdown, Brock Foster 4-2, Darius Johnson 1-2

PASSING – (Burnet) Austin Moore 27-39-480-4 touchdowns

RECEIVING – (Burnet) Joel Johnson 10-281-3 touchdowns, Cody Jones 6-64, Cavender 2-43, Foster 3-49-1 touchdown, Gallardo 5-40, Shackelford 1-13