From the Desk of...

Matt Burnett

Coach Burnett Talks About Week 12

November 14, 1999

Silsbee Bi-District Game

     I was real please with the way the kids approached the game, because after an emotional high that we had from the Nederland game, it's sometimes hard to get up emotionally the next week. Human nature sets in as far as all week people congratulating the kids and telling them what a fine job they did. Sometimes that could lead to them not being as hungry for a win as they normally are. But our kids really got after Silsbee.

     The game was real close due to a couple of factors. Number one being Silsbee. Silsbee has a good defensive scheme, a good offensive scheme, and a good coaching staff. Number two we turned the ball over, which is something we haven't been doing, and that causes you to really work to win the game. I was pleased our kids were focused in enough and taking care of business to overcome the turnovers. Some teams, four turnovers and a little panic sets in, but we settled in.

     A big part of the game was our defense's ability to slow their offense down. I was real happy with the way we played. If we would have had an off night defensively we would have been in severe trouble. Offensively our big play ability helped us, also our ability to run the ball.

     It was a great playoff game. Silsbee made us earn it every bit of the way. Shawn Lang came up with a big interception and Jared Hanks came up with a timely fumble recovery. We also blocked a field goal, which was a big momentum changer for us. The main thing was that we won, and now we're Bi-District champions, and we get to go to the Astrodome.

On Waller

     Waller is 7-4. Their head coach is Jim Phillips. He's done a good job. They run the Wishbone offense. They are very physical with it. They run smash-mouth football, and throw off the play action. They'll smash-mouth the ball up in there, and they'll pull it out and the quarterback will throw it downfield.

     They won a big game Friday against Kilgore. Kilgore was 9-1, and picked to win the game. At the end of the first quarter it was 21-- 0 Kilgore. Waller fought their way back to win 32-31. You can see them building that momentum as things started turning their way. So we're dealing with a team that's on fire right now as far as confidence.

     Defensively they're running an 8-man front. They'll put 8 men up on the line of scrimmage and run them through every gap known to man. Their defense is designed to cause turnovers. When you get to the second round of the playoffs every team's won a playoff game. You've eliminated all the pretenders. So I expect a tough game from Waller.

Injuries

     Indians came out of the Silsbee game injury free.

Defensive Leaders

     Defensive leaders against Silsbee were: