Rested Cards face powerful Garland club
Cedric Inglehart, Gonzales Cannon Reporter
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Gonzales Cannon Article | St. Paul Cardinal Football | Shiner Home Page
SHINER -- By virtue of a rare postseason forfeit, a rested Shiner St. Paul will duel it out with Garland Christian Academy (GCA) in the second round of the TAPPS Division IV playoffs.
Although the teams have scarcely played each other in the past, there will be an element of familiarity involved. Not only is GCA a former post of St. Paul head coach Paul Johnston, but its current head coach, Joel Berry, coached with Johnston when they were both at Covenant Christian. Their relationship probably explains why both teams closely resemble each other on offense.
"We’re very similar to St. Paul because we’re also a spread team that operates out of the shotgun," Berry said. "It will kind of be like watching mirror images on offense. The challenging and fun thing about this game is they have been practicing all year against the same thing we have. It’s not going to be foreign to either of us at all."
The Swordsmen (10-1, 5-0) have been extremely prolific all year in the scoring department, where they average 55.2 points per game. Their high-octane offense has either set or broken over 40 school records this year including one for points in a game when they beat Lakehill Prep 94-66.
The top gun for the GCA offense is their quarterback Hayden Burnett, who has completed 54 percent of his passes for 3,430 yards and 39 touchdowns. The senior is also very instrumental in the running game with 1,673 yards and 26 scores on 226 carries.
In their first round 48-27 win over Fort Worth Lake Country Christian, Burnett went 11-for-18 with 287 yards and four touchdowns. He also added 120 rushing and another score on 18 carries.
"Everything runs through Hayden," said Berry. "He’s been pretty proficient throwing the ball for us and he’s our leading rusher as well. He’s just a great competitor."
When Burnett drops back to pass more often than not he’s looking to throw to Zev Bailey, who leads the team with 52 catches for 1,267 yards and 18 touchdowns.
"Zev is our main receiver," Berry said. "He’s got good hands and he does a job of running routes and getting open."
The other important cogs in the GCA offensive machine include Jeramee Smith (774 yards rushing, 681 yards receiving, 15 TDs), and Cody King (862 yards receiving, 202 yards rushing, 13 TDs).
"We need to be able to execute and do the things that we want to do," said Berry.
The Swordsmen have been involved in quite a few shootouts this season because of their porous defense, which has given up an average of over 33 points per game. Their defense runs through linebackers Caleb Petersen, the team’s leading tackler with 173 including 119 solo, and Michael Assels (68 tackles, 53 solo and a team-high 5 sacks).
"St. Paul has a really good offense so we’re going to have to be able to slow them down a little bit," Berry said. "I don’t think you ever really stop a team that does the things that they do."
Despite the many parallels, one main difference between St. Paul and GCA is their players’ experience level. The Cardinals only have three seniors compared to the dozen that appear on the Swordsmen’s roster.
The game will be played Friday in the Georgetown ISD Athletic Complex, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
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