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ͳΆ΅Ϳ͑ͲͿ΅Ͷ΄͑ Class: 1A Division II Region: 4 District: 13 School Colors: Red and White Playoff Appearances: 5 State Championships: None Head Coach: Jason Hodde Years as head coach at Burton: 1 Coaching Record: 0-0 Assistant Coaches: Jamie Smith, Robbie Yanowski, Carl Faigle FIVE-YEAR TREND 2011 – 12-3, Semifinals 2010 – 12-1, Quarterfinals 2009 – 7-3, No Playoffs 2008 – 8-3, Regionals 2007 – 5-5, No Playoffs 2011 RESULTS 8/26 Weimar 9/2 @ Somerville 9/9 Louise 9/23 Riesel 9/30 Flatonia 10/7 @ Milano 10/14 Bartlett 10/21 @ Snook 10/28 Granger 11/4 @ Holland PLAYOFFS 11/11 Sabine Pass 11/19 D’Hanis 11/25 Granger 12/2 Falls City 12/9 Tenaha
31-0 34-12 49-8 36-13 29-13 13-14 22-0 38-23 (OT) 20-26 27-13
2012 SCHEDULE 8/31 Wallis-Brazos 9/7 Chilton 9/14 @ Louise 9/21 @ Bremond 9/28 OPEN 10/5 Flatonia 10/12 @ Milano 10/19 Granger 10/26 @ Bartlett 11/2 Snook 11/9 @ Somerville 13-1A DIVISION II COACHES’ POLL 1. Burton 2. Milano 3. Granger 4. Somerville 5. Bartlett 6. Snook
43-13 47-20 17-7 55-30 28-63
2011 REVIEW
The Panthers followed up their best season in school history with an even better one in 2011. Burton battled injuries, lost a pair of district games, but got into the playoffs with a win over Holland in the final week of the regular season. Some key starters returned at the right time and the Panthers played some of their best football in the postseason, going on a little bit of a revenge tour. Burton knocked off Granger, who beat them in the regular season, then Falls City, who knocked them out of the playoffs in 2011, in back to back weeks. The season ended at the hands of eventual state champion Tenaha in the state semifinals. “Dealing with all the injuries was the most challenging part of the season,” said head coach Clinton Smith. “We had to move players to different positions each week.” KEY LOSSES Xavier Bethany – Lamar RETURNING STARTERS SR TB/DB Juwan Mathis 5’7, 165 – 1,000 yds rushing, 500 yds rec, 1st team all-district RB/DB SR WR/DB Brandon Green 6’4, 185 – 800 yds receiving, 1st team alldistrict WR, 2nd team LB SR G/DT Sam Gibson 6’3, 270 – 1st team all-district OL/DL SR T/DT Deitrick Garcia 5’11, 260 – 1st tm all-dist OL, 2nd tm all-dist DL SR C/NT Ryan Salinas 5’10, 265 SO WR/DE Louis Brown 6’5, 195 – district newcomer of the year SO WR/DB Luke Huffer 5’11, 150 JR LB Ryan Rollins 5’7, 165 – 2nd team all-district KEY RETURNEES SR LB Gabino Rosales 5’9, 160 SR HB/DB Josh Gantt 5’10, 150 JR FB/DT Daniel Ripple 5’9, 175 KEY NEWCOMERS SO HB/S Derek Walton 5’10, 160 SO RB/LB Mitchell Neal 5’10, 160 Offense: Spread, I-Formation Defense: 3-4 COACH SMITH SAYS: (before he took the Hearne job) “With lots of returners on both sides of the line we expect them to help carry this team… We must find a quarterback to replace Xavier Bethany… Fans will see more of a ball control style offense. We won’t be as explosive on that side of the ball… We expect to contend for a district title and then everything else will fall into place.”
2012 OUTLOOK
The Panthers lost some key players that helped them make a run to the semifinals, but are loaded with plenty of talent that could help them make another deep postseason run. Clinton Smith, who went 39-10 in four years at Burton, moved on to Hearne and top assistant Jason Hodde was promoted to head coach and athletic director for his hometown team. Hodde has seven returning starters to work with on offense and eight returning starters on defense. Sam Gibson, Deitrick Garcia, and Ryan Salinas are back to anchor a talented offensive line and they will be blocking for talented running back Juwon Mathis. The Panthers are searching for a quarterback to replace Xavier Bethany, and whoever wins the job has two very good, very tall receivers to throw the ball to in Brandon Green and Louis Brown. The same group also starts on defense, and will be joined by linebacker Ryan Rollins to form what should be a defense that will be very hard to score on. The chase for the District 13-1A Division II title looks to be a threeteam race between Burton, Milano, and Granger, but on paper Burton should be the favorite to claim the championship and make their third straight trip to the playoffs.