Burnet football’s comeback against Brownwood falls short

Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography

The Burnet High School football team lost to Brownwood 31-30 in overtime Oct. 25 in District 4-4A Division I play.

The Bulldogs trailed 24-14 going into the fourth quarter and made up the deficit with time to spare for both teams to win in regulation. Head coach Ben Speer called for three plays that determined the outcome where he bet on his players.

Burnet won the coin flip to decide whether it wanted to play defense or go to offense to start the extra session. The Bulldogs played defense first.

After Brownwood scored, Burnet junior running back Josiah Coronado scored the one-yard touchdown to trim the deficit to 31-30.

Then Speer made his final bet on his players against Brownwood by keeping the offense on the field to go for the two-point conversion and the win. Senior quarterback Rhett Murray hit Coronado on a bubble screen, but the Lions snuffed it out for the win.

“It was pretty quiet on the bus ride home,” Speer said. “I told the kids right after the game, ‘You have nothing to hang your heads. You played an incredible second half.’ It came down to one play. It didn’t go our way. I was encouraged. I know they were hurting and bothered. We held them to three points in the second half and gave us a chance to win it.”

Trailing 24-14 late in the third quarter, the Bulldogs (5-4, 1-2) began a scoring drive they completed when Murray hit senior athlete Marcus Pimentel on a 10-yard touchdown pass.

Then Speer bet on his players by calling for a surprise onside kick they executed perfectly by recovering it on the Brownwood 41 to get another possession.

“We’ve been working on it for awhile,” he said. “We knew when the moment was to do it. We were driving at the end of the third and started talking about a surprise onside kick. The field was flipped. We were going to kick it toward our sideline. We put together a good drive.”

That resulted in a 22-yard field goal by Marco Campo to tie the game at 24-24 with about 7 minutes left.

The Lions (4-3, 1-1) were determined to regain the lead and reached the Burnet 26-yard line when they fumbled with about 6 minutes remaining.

The Bulldogs looked to do the same thing by moving down the field. They faced fourth-and-1 when they got to the Brownwood 35 with 25 seconds remaining. Speer made his first bet on his players. Burnet went for the first down and the Lions defense held.

Brownwood attempted a 47-yard field goal that was wide right at the horn to send the game into overtime.

The Lions began the scoring on their opening drive of the game after forcing the Bulldogs to punt. Murray hit senior receiver Colt Stanford on a 25-yard throw to tie the game at 7-7 with 3 minutes left in the opening stanza.

Brownwood regained the lead on a 40-yard passing touchdown to cap an 85-yard, eight-play drive for a 14-7 lead. The Lions forced Burnet to turn the ball over on downs after the Bulldogs couldn’t convert on a fourth-and-5.

The Lions connected on a 29-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-15 for the 21-7 advantage with 2 minutes left in the half.

But Murray and Coronado ended the second quarter with a 32-yard touchdown reception to trim the deficit to 21-14.

“It’s more about us in the first half,” Speer said. “We didn’t execute. You still have to play the game. Once they got the attention and execution, it was Bulldog football.”

It was Brownwood’s first overtime since 2016. They finished with 476 yards of total offense with 302 passing yards and 174 yards on the ground.

The Bulldogs had 361 yards of total offense with 199 yards in the air and 162 yards on the ground. Murray completed 14 of 22 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns.

“Rhett keeps getting better and better every week,” Speer said. “Marcus had some pretty good catches, one on a fourth down at the end of the third quarter. Defensively, we made some adjustments and countered what they were trying to do. It worked well for us in the second half.”

As he thought back through the contest, the coach pointed out it was another great night of Texas high school football.

“It was a playoff-like atmosphere,” he said. “It very easily could have gotten out of hand. Frustration could have set in. We made some adjustments at halftime. I was pleased with the kids and the way we responded. Everybody stepped up in the second half.”

Burnet is on a bye Friday, Nov. 1, before welcoming Stephenville Nov. 8. Brownwood is at Stephenville Friday, Nov. 1. Games start at 7:30 p.m.