FOOTBALL: Hornets Facing 5A Waco High Friday

In what will be its final test prior to the 2014 season, Gatesville will host Waco High in a controlled scrimmage here Friday morning. The JV and 9th Grade teams play at 9 a.m., followed by the Varsity teams at 10:30 a.m. Gatesville coach Kyle Cooper sees Friday's outing as a chance for his squad to really see where it is at this point in the season. "It's going to be a great measuring stick for us right now," he said. "Waco High has a great program and they are well-coached. They are big up front and fast in the backfield. It will be a great challenge for our kids." Gatesville, which opens the new season August 29 at Brownwood, got its first outside test last week in a scrimmage at McGregor. The two teams played to a 1-1 tie overall (No. 1 squads were 1-1, No. 2 squads were 1-1, no score in actual game-type segment). "I thought it went real well," noted Cooper. "The biggest plus was the number of takeaways by our defensive first unit...we came up with four turnovers. At this point, our offense is a little behind our defense mainly because we are trying to be more up-tempo and more multi-formational. We want to be masters of tempo every possession."