Burnet finishes 8-4 after falling to Port Lavaca Calhoun in Class 4A Division I playoffs
BASTROP — Playoff games can often turn on a play. One miscue, one big sack, one big run. Unfortunately, for the Burnet Bulldogs, that play never came and their season came to an end.
Burnet could not solve Port Lavaca Calhoun’s run game the the Bulldog offense didn’t find a groove in a 42-14 loss to the Sandcrabs in a Class 4A Division I area round playoff game at Bastrop ISD Memorial Stadium on Friday.
“They were never not scoring so you don’t play catch up if they’re scoring everything time they have it, we never got a stop to get in a position to play catch up,” Burnet head coach Bryan Wood said.
Burnet (8-4) ends its third season under Wood while Calhoun (8-4) advances to play either Alice or Lampasas in the regional quarterfinals.
Bulldog quarterback Rhett Murray completed 14 of 17 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown and Trenton Park had five receptions for 96 yards.
Calhoun combined for 313 yards rushing on 48 rush attempts and did not punt until the final five minutes of the game.
After finding the end zone on its first two possessions, Burnet was held scoreless in the final 36 minutes, 30 seconds of game time. The Bulldogs punted three times and went 0 for 4 on third down conversions after the first quarter.
Burnet had two turnovers in Calhoun territory in the second half, both resulted in Sandcrabs touchdowns.
The Bulldogs reached the Sandcrabs' 38 midway though the third quarter before a bad snap led to a fumble recovered by Calhoun. Burnet had a first and goal from the Calhoun 3-yard line on its following drive, but turned the ball over on downs.
The Burnet offense was able to move the ball early and find the end zone, but Calhoun did not allow that those opportunities in the second quarter as the Sandcrabs used their triple option attack to keep the Bulldog offensive playmakers on the sideline. Calhoun ran 27 plays to Burnet’s six over the final 13 minutes of the first half and scored 21 unanswered points during that that span of time.
Both teams stole a possession in the first half as Burnet opened the game by recovering a pooch kickoff at hat led to a touchdown, but Calhoun returned the favor early in the second quarter with an onside kick that led to seven points as well.
“They got that onside kick after they tied it up and went an scored on that, that was a swing of the momentum,” Wood said. “They’re just good, they’re a good football team and we got beat by a good football team. They played better than we did tonight. They earned it.”
The Bulldogs took over after falling behind 21-14 and appeared to be in a flow as Grant Jones took a handoff 23 yards to midfield, however that drive was stalled after a bad snap cost Burnet 15 yards and put the Bulldog offense behind the chains. The Bulldogs had to punt on that possession, the only punt by either team in the first half.
The Bulldogs got on the board early with a recovered pooch kick the opening kickoff giving Burnet possession on the Calhoun 29. Jones scored on a 2-yard run three plays later to make it 7-0 Burnet just 56 seconds in the the area playoff contest.
Murray connected with Will Johnson on a 3-yard touchdown toss that put Burnet back on top 14-7 with 30 seconds left in the second quarter.
Friday marked the final game for 13 Bulldog seniors on the roster.
“My first year here, they were sophomores and have taken some lumps, but stuck with the process,” Wood said. “We didn’t want it to end tonight, but I’m glad they were heard playing in the second round of the playoffs after my first two years were so tough.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Burnet falls to Port Lavaca Calhoun in Class 4A Division I playoffs
