Offensive line main focus of Burnet coaches in scrimmage
JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER
BURNET — The Burnet High School football team will travel to Wimberley on Aug. 20 for its final scrimmage of the 2015 season.
The sub-varsities will play at 6 p.m. with the varsity to follow at 7:30 p.m. at Texan Stadium, 200 Texas Blvd.
The varsity will play two live quarters and with some special teams action.
Burnet head coach Kurt Jones said at the top of his list is continuing the evaluation of one particular group.
“It’s no secret: our offensive line,” he said.
Coaches want to see more cohesiveness and comfort with working together, Jones said.
“It’s going to be improving,” he said. “Right now, we feel like we have eight or nine linemen who are in the mix. We need to see more out of those guys.”
Junior running back Preston Reeves and senior running back Keedrick Hill have been splitting time in the back field, and senior athletes Brock Foster and Wesley Shackelford also have run with the ball more.
“We feel like we’ll be more running-back-by-committee,” Jones said. “We need to take a good look at Reeves. Brock is a little bit do everything — running back and dangerous at slot receiver. Keedrick and Preston are going to be in our backfield. All those kids bring something different to the table. Foster, Keedrick and Shackelford all have good speed; Reeves is a change-of-pace back.”
Senior quarterback Austin Moore and senior receiver Joel Johnson and junior receiver Steven Gallardo continue their on-field chemistry this season.
Last season, Johnson caught 71 passes for 1,629 yards and 13 touchdowns. Gallardo had 53 catches for 602 yards and six touchdowns and 28 rushes for 147 yards and five touchdowns. Foster had 118 rushes for 717 yards and 10 touchdowns and caught 23 passes for 303 yards and two touchdowns.
Moore completed 270 of 430 passes for 4,313 yards with 39 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
“Our offense is designed to spread the ball around, spread the field and spread the defense,” Jones said. “You can’t do that by going to one guy.”
Foster’s and Gallardo’s all-purpose yards and Jones’ yards after catches illustrate the potency of the offense, he added.
“We feel like those are three guys who have a lot of touches and put up yards in different ways,” the coach said.
Senior defensive lineman Oscar Perez and senior defensive end Trent Rockafellow, who is putting his hand in the dirt for the first time, are making their presence felt.
“Our defensive linemen are really quick,” Jones said. “These defensive linemen are very active and very tough to block.”
Jones said the team has younger linemen who are learning the speed and strength it takes to play on the varsity level.
Senior lineman Cullen Ferrill had more than 90 tackles last season, Jones said, which ranked him in the top three on the team.
“He was in on a bunch of tackles and sees things from the linebacker position,” the coach said.
Senior defensive back Darius Johnson is anchoring that unit.
“Darius is one of the best athletes on our team and a really, really smart player,” Jones said. “He’s always around the ball and makes things happen.”
Jones realizes the stature of the defensive unit might not score opponents.
“We have a lot of good kids and a lot of good athletes,” he said. “When you eyeball them, I don’t know they’ll look overly impressive. But they’re getting to the ball. If you play smart defense, swarm to the ball and tackle well, what more can you ask for? We’ll continue to make strides in that. We’ll be fine.”
Moore was a punter on the junior varsity in 2013, while and sophomore Tyler Torres has been kicking field goals, extra points and kickoffs.
jfierro@thepicayune.com