Burnet football faces Andrews for bi-district title
CAPTION: Burnet senior quarterback Rhett Murray, junior running back Josiah Coronado, and the Bulldogs are taking on Andrews. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Burnet High School football team begins the 2024 Class 4A Division I playoffs by meeting Andrews at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, at San Angelo Stadium, 1919 Knickerbocker Road.
The Mustangs (4-6, 3-0 District 3-4A Division I champions) utilize the slot-T offense very similar to how the Marble Falls Mustangs operated it in 2020 and 2021.
“They’re very comparable to Marble Falls’ philosophy,” Burnet head coach Ben Speer said. “‘We’ll run right at you.'”
Andrews is led by junior running back Jaesean Debouse, who has 168 carries for 1,371 yards and 15 touchdowns and eight receptions for 251 yards and seven scores. Senior running back Leeroy Millan has 105 rushes for 490 yards and seven scores, sophomore running back Beau Hudson has 59 carries for 417 yards, and sophomore Casey Mendoza has 39 rushes for 230 yards and two scores.
“The big thing to our advantage is these kids have seen it before,” Speer said. “Our juniors and seniors know what it’s like to play those teams. It’s something they shouldn’t be scared of or mesmerized.”
Another huge point for the Bulldogs is the number of linemen who can rotate in to keep them fresh. Marble Falls’ philosophy was to take two or three yards per carry at the start of the contest. Then midway through the second half, those same plays started to yield double the yardage. Much of that is because it became harder for the defense to make tackles. But the ability to spread out those plays among different defenders allows for the Bulldogs to not get so tired.
“We can put new guys on the field,” the coach said. “We can substitute and keep them fresh.”
The Andrews defense switches between a 4-2-5 and a 3-3 stack.
Burnet will counter with senior quarterback Rhett Murray, who has completed 147 of 249 passes for 1,770 yards, 19 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, junior running back Josiah Coronado, who has 149 rushes for 876 yards and four scores, and senior Colt Stanford, who has 30 catches for 457 yards and 4 touchdowns.
“They’ll send pressure,” Speer said. “I think we match up really well with them. We’ll have to spread the ball around.”
