Burnet, Lampasas football compete in close contest

CAPTION: Burnet senior linebacker Dash Denton (1) and ensures this Badger doesn’t get any more yards during the loss to Lampasas Oct. 6. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography

The Burnet High School foootball team lost to Lampasas 35-14 Oct. 6 in the District 13-4A Division I opener for both squads.

Burnet (3-3, 0-1) welcomes Marble Falls to Bulldog Field at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13.

For almost three quarters, the Badgers and the Bulldogs were tied at 7-7. Burnet scored first to take a 7-0 lead.

“We missed a couple of opportunities on offense,” Burnet head coach Bryan Wood said.

The Bulldogs fumbled the ball early in the third quarter, which Wood called “a critical turnover,” that led to the Badgers (5-1, 1-0) scoring to take the 14-7 lead.

Burnet punted on its ensuing possession, and Lampasas answered with another touchdown that took at least five minutes to complete for the 21-7 advantage.

The Bulldogs responded with a score to trim the deficit to 21-14 and when the Badgers were called for a personal foul, which allowed Burnet to kick off from the opponents’ 40-yard line. Coaches called for an onside kick.

But Lampasas fielded the ball to ensure it had a 21-14 lead headed into the final quarter.

“We could have turned the tide if we had recovered it,” Wood said.

He agreed the contest was much like watching two boxers exchange punches for the length of the bout.

“You knew it could come down to a few mistakes,” he said. “They had one turnover, we had two. They ran 60 offensive plays, we ran 50. We had some penalty yardage that was silly. Some were self-inflicted. And that’s not to take anything away from Lampasas.”

The final quarter, the coach said, can best be explained by going back to fundamental football.

“The line of scrimmage was a big deal late in the third and early in the fourth quarters,” he said. “Their mentality changed a little bit. It was our possessions offensively that were more critical.”

Lampasas had 386 yards of total offense. Junior quarterback Reed Jerome completed 12 of 19 passes for 170 yards, two touchdowns and one interception and had 15 carries for 72 yards and two scores. Sophomore running back Jett Walker had 21 rushes for 97 yards. Junior receiver Haegan Oncken caught seven passes for 99 yards and touchdown.

Senior linebacker Dash Denton led with 17 tackles, while senior defensive back Trenton Park had nine tackles and an interception, and junior defensive back Colt Stanford had seven tackles.

The Bulldogs had 250 yards of total offense. Senior running back Dash Denton had 13 carries for 76 yards. Junior quarterback Rhett Murray completed 12 of 25 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns. Senior receiver Grant Jones caught seven passes for 72 yards and a touchdown, while senior receiver Trenton Park had three receptions for 35 yards.

“Thirty-five looks worse than it is,” Wood said. “There’s stuff you can’t do and win. We have a good enough team for three quarters. We didn’t prove it toward the end. I’m disappointed by the loss, but we’ll go back to work.”

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