Last Friday, the Hackett Sr High Hornets had a tough conference go-round with the Greenland Pirates. The first half of the game started off well enough with the match going into halftime with a score of 13-6 Greenland. But then the waters turned rough for the Hornets and the Pirates dominated the board ending the night with a final score of 41-14. “We struggled coming out of the second half. They changed up how they were running the ball in the second half and we had no answer,” said head coach, Michael Meador.
In their match against Greenland, QB, Ethan “Superman” Slavens completed 15/22 passes, 174 yards, 2 TDs, and 4 INT. Weston Winters had 9 carries for 44 yards. Fischer Shipman made 9 catches for 73 yards and 1 TD. Kamron Elkins got 1 reception for 45 yards and 1 TD. Peyton Hester earned 14 solo tackles, 6 assists, and 1 sack. Kamron Elkins got 12 solo tackles, 1 assist, and 1 FF. Weston Winters scored 9 solo tackles and 5 assists. And Nate Gordon snagged 7 solo tackles, 2 assists, 1 sack, and 2 fumble recoveries.
This Friday though is when the real fun begins. Spanning back decades, this game was one that households would mark on their calendars as the one to watch. Nobody knew that in 2009, they would have to wait just short of a decade before they would get to watch this Sebastian County showdown again. Then in 2018, it happened. The Hackett Hornets and the Mansfield Tigers lit the fire that brought this old rivalry back to life. The 2018/2019 season saw what was in my opinion the game of the year that ended in a final score of 28-26 Mansfield. Then for the 2019/2020 season, the Tigers again took the win, this time with a score of 40-8.
Now for Round 3 of the Hornets and the Tigers, there’s one slight difference. Instead of being non-conference rivals with Hackett in 2A and Mansfield in 3A, they are both battling it out in 3A football. This time around though, the Hornets are coming back to settle the score. With 174 points on the season, Hackett sits 1-4 in conference play and 3-4 overall. The Tigers are having a slightly harder time this season, bringing in 122 points and holding an 0-6 conference record. “This game will be a fun one. We struggled last year against Mansfield and hope to change that this time around. We have to continue to get better as a team and our offense needs to start clicking.” Mansfield will host Hackett on Friday, November, 6th for the last scheduled game of the season.
