Burleson gets first win against Everman in 6 years as Elks win final home game
Coming off a disappointing loss last week, Burleson made sure it wasn’t going to lose during its final home game of the season on Thursday night.
Particularly, Jalen Kitna, Luke Peterson, Jarrett Austin and Chris Pritchett.
Kitna, a 3-star Florida commit, and Peterson connected on four touchdowns and Pritchett intercepted three passes, and Burleson knocked off Everman, 42-32, in a District 5-5A Division 2 showdown at Burleson ISD Stadium.
“The kids were disappointed last week, not just the loss, but how we played,” Burleson coach Jon Kitna said. “Leadership really took control of the practice this week. They wanted to be pushed.”
Burleson snapped an 5-game losing streak in the series and got its first win over Everman since 2014.
“It’s a big win for this program,” Kitna said. “A lot of these kids haven’t beaten Everman at any level so you kind of have to grind through one and I’m proud of them.”
The Elks improved to 3-2 in district and 5-3 overall. The Bulldogs are 3-2 and 4-4.
Late in the second quarter, Everman capped off a 9-play, 64-yard drive as Juan Davis (University of Texas commit) crossed the goal-line from the 1. Davis scored on the 2-point conversion and the Bulldogs cut Burleson’s lead to 14-11 with 55 seconds until intermission.
Burleson fumbled on the ensuing play at its own 30 and Everman’s Keylan Childress recovered. The Bulldogs got to the 5, but their pass attempt was intercepted by Pritchett in the end zone just before the break.
“The play before, they ran the slant rout with No. 6 and he beat me so I guess they said let’s run the same play and I guessed right on the slant and that shifted the tide,” Pritchett said.
The momentum going into half grew when the Elks opened the second half with a 10-play, 65-yard scoring drive. Facing a fourth-and-10, Kitna connected with Peterson on a 22-yard TD pass to increase the lead to 21-11 with 9:08 left in the third quarter.
“Tonight was a big bounce back. We had a tough game last week,” Jalen Kitna said. “It really showed on the field, the way we worked together. We obviously had a connection on offense and defense worked together to make some big stops.”
Everman responded with its own long drive to open the period as the Bulldogs went 66 yards on nine plays, capped off by Davis’ 22-yard TD catch on fourth-and-15 from Eric Calamease to make it 21-17 after the extra point was blocked with 3:54 on the clock.
Kitna and Peterson hooked up for the fourth time, this from 37 yards on the ensuing drive to give Burleson a 28-17 edge with 1:22 to go in the third.
“Everman was playing man and they were playing it pretty soft so we got dudes who can run,” Kitna said. “We wanted to see if they could run with us.”
Everman pulled within 28-25 when Davis went untouched on the next possession from 59 yards and Calamease hit Jaheim Patterson on the 2-point conversion early in the fourth.
The Bulldogs’ defense stepped up as they held Burleson on a three-and-out, but Everman gave the ball away on offense when Drue Saenz got the second pick of the night for the Elks.
Burleson capitalized as Kitna hit Colin Maher on a 24-yard TD to make it 35-25 with 5:49 left to play.
Pritchett stalled the next Everman drive with his second interception, but on the return, fumbled, and Davis recovered for Everman at the Elks’ 19. Four plays later, the Bulldogs scored on a 1-yard run from Troyonne Simpson to bring the score to 35-32 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining.
Austin rushed all three times on the next Burleson drive for 29 and 15 yards, and his 4-yard TD pushed Burleson’s lead to 42-32 with 1:37 to go.
“We just want to do what the defense allows us to do and it all starts with our trench play,” Jon Kitna said. “I told those guys how we play in the trenches is how the game goes.”
Everman got to the Burleson 33 on its final possession, but Pritchett picked off his third pass attempt to seal the victory.
“The three is special to me because that’s Tre’s number so I got three picks for Tre tonight,” Pritchett said. “Getting emotional about it. Last game on this field as a Burleson Elk.”
Kitna completed 15 of 24 passes for 219 yards and five TDs. Peterson finished with seven catches for 133 yards and four TDs and Austin rushed for 196 yards with one score on 20 carries.
The Elks out-gained the Bulldogs 447-393 in total yardage.
“When you have someone who can run like Jarrett does, it’s not hard to get the pass game going,” Jalen Kitna said. “Our offensive linemen have worked really hard this past week.”
The Bulldogs rushed for 228 yards on 48 attempts, led by Davis, who had 90 yards on 12 attempts and two TDs and added 101 yards receiving on five catches. Calamese accounted for 221 yards and one TD pass. Jonathen Wilson added 71 yards on 14 carries.
Everman took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on Christian Reyes’ 28-yard field goal. The scoring drive was set up when Burleson went for it on fourth-and-2 at its own 29 and the Bulldogs stopped a run attempt for no gain.
But it only took 1:37 for Burleson to grab its first lead at 7-3 when the Elks drove 65 yards on five plays during the ensuing drive. Austin picked up 30 yards on back-to-back carries and Kitna capped it off with a 24-yard TD pass to Peterson with 10:18 left in the second quarter.
The Elks extended their lead to 14-3 with 4:33 left in the half on the second connection from Kitna to Peterson, this one on a 17-yard TD pass to cap off a 5-play, 70-yard drive.
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 11:49 PM.
