From the Desk of...

Matt Burnett

Coach Burnett Talks About Week 2

September 6, 1999

    Kelly Game

     It turned out the be a hard fought game for us. I'm proud our defense was prepared because they were tested many times. We knew going in that Kelly's skill people were capable of making plays. As the game turned, out, we turned the ball over on the second play, and our defense had to go out there and stop 'em. They got a field goal out of it; as a matter of fact we almost blocked it--tipped it. It was one of those nights that the defense had to play, and they rose to the occasion.

     Offensively we couldn't get anything going consistently. We'd get it going and something would happen.  Jeff Bergeron did a great job on an option pitched to him. He got a 59 yard touchdown run out of it, and a whole flock of Indians led him to the endzone. That put us up 7-3. Then the second touchdown series we got out passing going, pitched it to Jeff, and he got in again. The second half we moved the ball. We got a lot of yards, but had four turnovers on the night.

     It's hard to defend against a defending State Champion. Give Kelly credit, they were well prepared. We went into the game thinking there would be a lot of points scored, and that we would have to outscore them; the exact opposite happened. After the game a lot of the kids had their heads down. They weren't happy with their performance. I told them to forget about it. We won the game. We're going to have to go through some growing pains.

     I'm proud of our pursuit to the ball and the aggressiveness we played with. Kelly's got a lot of skill people, and we stopped them twice on fourth down.

     Beaumont Ozen

     Ozen beat TJ last week 40-17. They had 530 yards total offense. They are a force to be reckoned with. Their tailback, Allison, rushed for 280 yards. Moss, their fullback, rushed for 155 yards. The thing about Ozen is basically they are the old Hebert neighborhood and there's a lot of tradition in that part of Beaumont. When they created West Brook, and sent those kids over there under Alex Durley, they won the state championship. Now what they've done is told those kids they can go back, and basically Hebert has become Ozen.

     They played a varsity schedule last year with all juniors. So all their kids are returning starters, and thing about them is they're very talented and real physical. I expect a real battle. We need to show up in all phases of our game. Kicking game has to be sharp and take advantage of anything we can get. We're real impressed with what they have.

     Arthur Louis is the head coach. He's an old Hebert guy. It means a lot for a person who played at a school and coaches there again, like my situation. It really hurts to lose when you're a hometown boy and lose.

     It's going to be our first home game. Ozen has a great following. They will probably fill up their side, and I know our side will be full. It will be exciting. We've refurbished out stadium. It's all aluminum. Took out all the wood. First opener is always fun in front of the home crowd. I was pleased with the crowd last week. It was full. I expect the purple and white to be out in full strength.

     Injuries

     We had no new injuries, and that's pretty amazing. We'll get Jay Domingue back this week. He's a big defensive tackle and returning starter that hasn't played since our first scrimmage.

     Conclusion

     Ozen's a very talented, huge group of kids. We'll have our hands full.

     Defensive Leaders

     Defensive leaders against Kelly were: