FOOTBALL: 2-0 Connally is GHS' Next Foe Friday

Gatesville continues its stretch of brutal non-district tests this week, as the Hornets host Waco Connally here Friday night. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. at McKamie Stadium. Friday's game is Military Appreciation Night and will include numerous current military members sitting around the field. For GHS, it will be Week 3 of a demanding pre-district schedule and it comes against another powerhouse. Connally comes into this week's matchup still unbeaten after wins over 3A No. 1 Cameron (63-49) and China Spring (40-35). "They are talented, very talented," noted Gatesville coach Kyle Cooper. "They have great athleticism and speed. It will be a different challenge for us than what we have seen the first two weeks." The Cadets, once former district rivals of GHS, offer a different look on both sides of the ball. "They have speed at so many positions offensively, and defensively they load most of their guys in the box and dare you to beat them." Gatesville has already suffered losses to Brownwood (35-0) on opening night and to 4A No. 1-ranked Stephenville (49-6) last week. Despite the two setbacks, Cooper has seen improvement in his squad's performance from one week to the next. "We corrected a lot of things against Stephenville, things we didn't do a great job of the first week," he said. "Offensively, we moved the ball well last week and produced a lot of points, we just didn't get into the end zone to punctuate our drives." Despite the 0-2 start, he sees his troops still working hard every day and challenging on Friday nights. "Stephenville showed us that we weren't ready for the best team in the state, but I think we proved to ourselves that we could do some things against them," he explained. "However, we have got to keep improving and strengthening some areas of concern." After this week, GHS will face West (there, Sept. 19) and Salado (here, Sept. 26) to conclude the non-district portion of its schedule. After an open week, the Hornets will begin District 13-4A play October 10 at Waco La Vega. HORNET NOTES: Friday being Military Appreciation Night, many of the military men and women in attendance are set to be deployed shortly afterwards. Be sure to stop by and thank them for their service to our country...GHS will host its annual Big Sting Game on Sept. 26 against Salado....GHS Homecoming is October 17 against Lampasas.