Lago Vista makes key stop, scores late to beat Burnet football
CAPTION: Burnet junior Matthew Williams (5) and senior Colt Stanford celebrate. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Burnet High School football team lost to Lago Vista 23-20 Aug. 30 in the 2024 season opener.
“They’re pretty talented, and they have good skill kids,” Bulldogs head coach Ben Speer said of the Vikings. “Their line will always be well coached.”
The Bulldogs (0-1) were led 20-17 midway through the fourth quarter and began to put together the drive to secure the victory.
“We drove down and got in their territory and lost it on fourth down,” Speer said.
With three minutes left in the contest, the Vikings (1-0) then moved the ball and converted on a deep throw where the Burnet secondary had a chance to break up the play.
“We were there, just didn’t knock it down,” the coach said. “We were right there. I’m always proud of the guys’ efforts. But it’s a game of inches.”
Lago Vista led 14-6 after the first quarter and 14-12 at the intermission. Burnet took a 20-17 lead into the fourth quarter.
Speer noted that when he looked at the Bulldogs’ two-deep defensive roster days leading up to the opener, he saw that only two were starters on the squad. He pointed that out to state the newcomers simply need time to adjust to the atmosphere and spotlight of the Friday night lights and all that comes with it.
“In the first half, we had guys with no varsity experience,” he said. “We had several self-inflicted wounds. We have to react to what they do. We can’t make mistakes. We had pre-snap penalties (delays of game and false starts) and (missed) one-on-one assignments. We have a lot of guys who need to get caught up. In the second half, I thought they adjusted well.”
The Vikings put the ball on the turf a few times but were able to retain possession.
“The ball bounced around, and we didn’t get it,” Speer said. “The ball rolled around it seemed like forever. We saw a lot of good things. We have an opportunity to get better. Our kids had chances to put them away in the fourth quarter. We had a chance to put them away on offense, and we had a chance to put them away on defense.”
He added that every snap will only benefit the Bulldogs as they use their pre-district schedule productively in an effort to perform at their best when they begin District 4-4A play at Marble Falls Oct. 11.
“I thought we played really well,” Speer said. “We know these kids can play varsity football. We need to knock the cob webs off. They’ll be fine. I’m excited about what we have.”
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