From the Desk of...

Matt Burnett

Coach Burnett Talks About Week 4

September 19, 1999

Silsbee Game

     The Silsbee game ended up being like I thought it would be. They're an improving ballclub. They played aggressively defensively, and they had a good game plan offensively as far as running the option.

     Early in the game we had some real good things happen for us. Our defense came up big--we were able to get them throwing out of their endzone and got a safety. We also caused a fumble, and Jonathan Lumbley ran it back 33 yards and it led to a big touchdown pass to Bo Wortham. He came out of the backfield, ran up the sideline, their safety played the tight end running a post route, and Bo was wide open. That play got it going for us.

     In the second half Silsbee showed some life. They ran a counter play and scored on a 73 yard touchdown run. We missed several tackles, and all of a sudden we had a football game 16-6.  Our offense came back though, picked up the tempo, and made it 23-6.

     Jeff Bergeron had some good runs. He showed cutting ability. I was real impressed with the way he played the second half. Silsbee came back with a bloody your nose drive, 14 plays 74 yards, late in the fourth quarter. They scored to make it 29-14. I'm real proud of our offense. We got the ball back and went on a 12 play 80 yard scoring drive that ate up six minutes of the clock. I was real pleased with the way the offense responded. It was real a real good time consuming drive to eat the clock up. We scored with 36 seconds left.

     I thought the offensive line, led by Wes Temple (OT), did a really good job of handling Silsbee's defensive tackles. Silsbee had one defensive tackle that was a man-child, and Wes did a good job on him. Dustin Long threw the ball well again, but we dropped some passes.

     But we won the game convincingly. We had a good video session Saturday morning, and we saw some things to work on that will make us a better football team, and help us get ready for district.

Little Cypress-Mauriceville

     Record:    1-2

     LC-M runs the Wishbone like the Rice Owls. They break the bone a lot. They'll get out of the bone and go to a one back set, and put the halfbacks in the slots. The do a good job of making the defense off-balance with formations. They run the option like Silsbee, so we feel we're ready. Defensively they run the old split six, which is two down linemen over the guard, two ends outside the tackles, and two inside linebackers. It's a good old solid defense. They do a good job of coaching it.

On the Indians

     It's going to be homecoming. It will be exciting for the crowd and the kids. We've just got to stay focused. I know we will. You know the kids will have to get with their girlfriends and get flowers and all. I know there are distractions, but we're looking forward to playing at home again. I'm sure our side will be full, and I hope LC-M brings people. They are 1-2, not as successful as in the past. Like any other well coached team, they're improving each week. We're looking forward to starting district.

Injuries

     We came out of the Silsbee  game healthy. Jay Domingue (DT) returned and did a great job. He showed no signs of his injuries. He came back strong.

Defensive Leaders

     Defensive leaders against Silsbee were: