HACKETT- Conference play continues this Friday when Charleston travels to Hackett for an important 3A-1 game. Kickoff in Hackett is scheduled for 7 p.m.
At press time for this story, the Charleston Tigers were getting ready to host the Mansfield Tigers in a 3A-1 showdown that would give the winner a leg up in finishing in the top two places in the conference standings. Mansfield is hosting Booneville this Friday making this week’s game for Charleston even more important in the conference standings. Charleston will host Booneville next week, October 20, at Alumni Field.
Charleston defeated Cedarville on September 29 by the score of 37-16 to improve their conference record to 2-0. At press time, the Hackett Hornets, off of their 42-35 conference win over Lavaca, were sitting in fourth place behind Booneville, Charleston, and Mansfield who were all 2-0 in the conference. The log jam has started to break with last week’s games and will continue this week. Only conference schools West Fork and Greenland had yet to win a conference game as of September 29.
After this week’s home game with Charleston, the Hackett Hornets will host West Fork on October 20. Charleston, as mentioned earlier, will return home for their big show down with Booneville.
The Hackett offense is a big play offense that is capable of scoring a lot of points. The Hornets scored 53 in their win vs. Centerpoint, and 42 points vs Lavaca. As of September 29, the Hornets were 3-2 overall and 1-1 in conference. Hackett’s conference win was against Lavaca, and the lone conference loss was a 46-14 loss at Booneville. The Hornets were preparing to take the field at Cedarville on October 6 at deadline time.
The Hackett offense is led by senior quarterback Cole Ketchum who passed for over 1600 yards a season ago to lead the conference in passing. In doing so, Ketchum also threw for 17 touchdown passes, also leading the conference. In the 2022 game against Lavaca, Ketchum threw for 203 yards and a touchdown.
Ketchum will be throwing to his talented junior wide receiver, Brycen Hamilton. Hamilton is an athletic receiver who has a height advantage over most defensive backs and is a threat to score in the red zone. Hamilton was the third-leading receiver in the conference a year ago, hauling in 39 receptions for 665 yards and seven touchdowns.
Senior Aden Elmore anchors the defensive line for Hackett. Elmore is also a force offensively at right tackle. The defense struggled a year ago, finishing last in the conference by giving up an average of 36.4 points per game.
The Charleston Tigers have played very well in the first two weeks of the conference season. The Tigers are young and talented and appear to be gaining confidence with each game. The Tigers were 2-3 overall as of September 29 and will have to be focused on a dangerous Hackett team, not overlooking them for their October 20 date with Booneville. The current three game stretch for Charleston that includes Mansfield, Hackett, and Booneville will ultimately determine the order of playoff seeds for the state playoffs from the 3A-1 conference. Two of those three games will be played in the friendly confines of Alumni Field.
RNN Sports photographer Ronni Tate Young will be in Hackett on Friday to bring you all of the action in pictures! Watch for her action shots next week on RNN Sports’ “Team Press Pass” page!
