FOOTBALL: GHS Trying to Bounce Back Versus Badgers

A week after a disappointing league-opening loss, Gatesville High will try to position itself back in the District 17-4A playoff talk when it hosts Lampasas here Friday night. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. for the 2014 GHS Homecoming game. It will be a matchup of teams that suffered first-week district losses - Gatesville losing 42-21 at La Vega, Lampasas suffering a 40-19 home loss against Robinson. "We've got to have a good week of work, get a win Friday night and get ourselves back into the playoff picture," said GHS head coach Kyle Cooper. The Hornets were tied 21-21 with La Vega midway through the third quarter last week, but the host-Pirates accounted for the game's final three scores. Gatesville was denied on a couple of scoring opportunities down the stretch. "They just made more plays than we did," noted Cooper. Lampasas was never close in its loss to Robinson, with the Badgers falling behind 26-0 in the first half. It was only the second loss in six games for LHS, which has beaten Lago Vista (24-17), Austin Reagan (46-7), Lorena (20-18) and Canyon Lake (21-14) to go along with a season-opening loss to Fredericksburg (22-15). "They present a whole different challenge for our kids," said Cooper. "Their offense is like nothing we have faced all season long. We will have to be very disciplined on every play."