Ten Highland Lakes Sports Insights

An important week is upon us – week five of the Texas High School football season, and teams are starting to reveal plenty about themselves. Let’s dive in and examine what we’ve learned.

1. An overmatched Giddings team visited Bulldog Field and a Burnet team eager to play under the Friday night lights after losing to Brownwood a week earlier. Giddings had a great series of plays at the beginning the game — recovering an onside kick the Buffaloes turned into a touchdown — that simply fueled the Bulldogs. They scored 35 unanswered points that illustrated Burnet’s ability to score in a variety of ways that included explosive plays and time-consuming drives. But even better than its offense was the Bulldogs’ defensive muscle in keeping Giddings out of the end zone and forcing several turnovers on downs in the second half that kept the Buffaloes from finding an offensive rhythm. Burnet head coach Bryan Wood is correct about how close his team really is to being good enough to challenge for District 13-4A Division I championship.
2. While the 34-0 loss to Kerrville Tivy may be frustrating for the Marble Falls Mustangs, it’s worth noting that they continue to improve each week. I can hear the laughter in the background as some readers are digesting that. But it’s true, and here’s why. The Antlers, which improved to 4-0 on the season, didn’t score until just under seven minutes remained in the second quarter. One touchdown play came on a halfback option. And a batted ball that was intercepted and returned for an 81-yard touchdown on the last play made the score look worse. The biggest concern coming out of that contest for the Mustangs are the number of fumbles they committed. They lost three in the first half that Tivy turned into two touchdowns (the Marble Falls defense got one of the fumbles back for their offensive counterparts). The other is the fact that opponents are scoring on their last drive of the first half, one of the three drives coaches examine because it tells them plenty about their units. And the opponent is leaving very little time on the clock for the Mustangs to respond. The penalty yards and explosive plays for Marble Falls and Tivy were about equal. The difference in this game comes down to, in essence, what football is about – finishing. The Antlers finished drives though they were 4 for 11 on third down, while the Mustangs were 1 for 12.
3. Lampasas remains the only undefeated team in the district at 4-0 thanks to a 36-28 victory against Pflugerville Connally Sept. 14. Since the Badgers had an open Friday night, some made their way to Bulldog Field to check out the Burnet-Giddings game. Lampasas will go to Wimberley (4-0, District 13-4A Region II) Friday, Sept. 22. Burnet visits Lampasas in the district opener Oct. 6. Taylor (2-2) defeated Smithville 49-19 Sept. 15. After the two teams played to a 13-13 tie in the first quarter, the Ducks scored 29 points in the second quarter and seven in the third en route to the win. Taylor is at Jarrell Sept. 22. San Antonio Davenport (2-2), which is expected to move up to Class 5A in the next realignment, crushed Lockhart 65-38 Sept. 15. Davenport welcomes Devine Sept. 29. Canyon Lake (1-3) lost to San Antonio Veterans Memorial 50-42 Sept. 15. The two played to a 7-7 tie after the first quarter and a 21-21 tie at the half. Veterans Memorial outscored the Hawks 14-7 in the third quarter, which proved to be the difference in the contest. Canyon Lake welcomes San Antonio East Central Sept. 21.
4. The Llano Yellow Jackets (2-2, District 13-3A Division I) lost to Coleman (3-1) 26-20 after overcoming a 20-6 deficit. The game was tied at 20-20 going into the fourth quarter thanks to junior R.J. Coplin’s kickoff return for a touchdown, his second of the season, and an interception the Jackets turned into another score. Coleman scored what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown on a pass where the receiver broke two tackles and outran the cornerback to the end zone with about 10 minutes left in the contest. Llano now prepares for its district opener against San Antonio Cole at home at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22.
5. The Faith Academy Flames were back at Britton Field hosting San Marcos Hill Country after an unexpected bye last week. The Flames began the contest by scoring on its opening drive though the Rams answered immediately. The contest turned in Hill Country’s favor when the Rams scored on Faith’s onside kick attempt for a 16-12 lead and then recovered their own onside kick when a Flame didn’t field and fall on the ball. Hill Country scored on the ensuing drive to take the 22-12 advantage that became a 66-30 win. Faith welcomes Austin Veritas at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22.
6. Let’s move to the hardwood and check on volleyball. The Burnet Lady Dawgs returned to The Doghouse and swept Gatesville 25-23, 25-18, 25-20 Sept. 15, a great bounce-back after losing to Salado 20-25, 22-25, 21-25 Sept. 12. Burnet welcomes Brownwood at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19, before starting District 24-4A play against Lago Vista, which reached the Class 4A Region III tournament a year ago.
7. The Marble Falls Lady Mustangs lost to the same Salado team that beat Burnet. The Lady Eagles prevailed 25-11, 25-21, 25-18. That loss was on the heels of the setback to Ingram Tom Moore 12-25, 15-25, 25-12 Sept. 12. The Lady Mustangs showed defensive improvement, especially at the net where junior middle blocker Kylie Roberts is looking more comfortable. She is moving quicker and reacting better to where she is needed, which is causing hitters to be precise in where they are spiking the ball for points. That’s how Ingram won; its hitters did a great job of finding the angles and the holes in the defense.
8. The Faith Academy Lady Flames may have had the toughest start to District 3-3A play of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools. The Lady Flames played defending state champion Round Rock Christian in the opener, state tournament semifinalist Bryan Brazos Christian in the second match, and Temple Central Texas Christian, which already won 20 matches this season, in the third district contest. Faith beat Temple Holy Trinity 25-18, 25-19, 25-22 for its first victory in district play. Head coach Erin Sawyer, who is in her first season leading the program, made two key changes in personnel before the Lady Flames took the court against Holy Trinity. She moved junior Abbye Blackington to setter and junior libero Jillian Martin to outside hitter. Blackington and Martin are lettermen who know their teammates and built rapport with them. And the move paid off. The Lady Flames will look to earn two more wins this week when they welcome Waco Reicher at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19, before traveling to face Waco Live Oak, which finished fourth last year to qualify for the playoffs.
9. The Llano Lady Jackets have quietly won five of their last six matches, including wins against Junction 25-15, 25-20, 25-23 Sept. 12 and Brady 25-13, 25-9, 25-12 Sept. 15. Three weeks ago, head coach Claire Head, who is in her first year at the helm, went back to basics by drilling her players on serve-receive, which starts the offense. Two weeks ago, the Lady Jackets were drilled on covering the defensive holes. Last week, they worked on blocking. Llano appears poised to challenge Blanco, Comfort and Ingram for the District 5-3A crown. The Lady Jackets first must travel to play at Florence at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19, for the district opener.
10. Let’s go to the hard courts and talk a little team tennis. Marble Falls is traveling to Burnet at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, with the second seed of the district tournament at stake. Both teams look evenly matched, and it wouldn’t surprise me if many matches are decided in tiebreakers. Twelve singles and seven doubles matches will be played. The squad that wins 10 matches will take the second seed for the district tournament to host the third seed in the tournament opener Sept. 28. So in essence, the two are playing for the right to host the other the following week.
11. And a bonus entry. Congratulations to the Marble Falls boys cross country team for being ranked No. 7 in the Class 4A state poll. The Mustangs continue to be paced by junior Tyler Hamblin and senior Nick Dahl. By all indications, Marble Falls and Burnet are on a collision course to decide which team will hoist the District 24-4A crown in a few weeks.

Watch videos on Highland Lakes sports by going to Fierro’s YouTube channel and searching for The Broad Podcaster. Please like, subscribe and share.