FOOTBALL: GHS Evens 13-4A Mark with 38-20 Win

Gatesville put itself back into playoff talk here Friday night, hammering Lampasas 38-20 in a game that was not near as close as the final score indicated. Jeff Speer passed for 115 yards and Alex Thompson rushed for 98 as GHS built a 38-6 lead and was never threatened. The Hornet defense was even more impressive, allowing their run-oriented guests only 56 yards rushing in the first half. “I can’t express enough how impressed I was with our defensive play tonight,” said Gatesville coach Kyle Cooper. “They got after it. When you face an offense as good as the one Lampasas has, you need people flying to the ball. You need people taking care of their assignments — and that’s what we had." Gatesville opened the scoring late in the opening quarter, as Speer toted the pigskin 10 yards for a touchdown. Abate Hennessy kicked true on a 26-yard field goal midway through the second period to make it 10-0. GHS successfully converted an onsides kick after the field goal, setting up the Hornet offense again. This drive ended on a Speer 5-yard keeper to make it 17-0 with 1:09 left in the first half. Lampasas reached the end zone with just 0:23 remaining in the half, but GHS accounted for the game's next two scores and upped its lead to 38-6 with less than three minutes to play. GHS finished with 401 yards offense while limiting Lampasas to 294. The Hornet defense was led by Cooper Edmiston (10 tackles), Addison Santulan (10), Sam Jackson (8), Michael Hallman (7) and Nick Gibson (7). "Tonight proved it’s all about us,” Cooper said. “When we execute, when we make plays, we see positive things.” With the win, Gatesville joins a 4-team pack of 1-1 teams in District 13-4A. Burnet leads the 6-team standings at 2-0, while Gatesville, Robinson, La Vega and China Spring are 1-1, Lampasas 0-2. The Hornets travel to Burnet next week.