The football facilities at Hackett are not the only part of the football program that has improved. In addition to the beautiful new artificial turf that has been installed, the Hackett Hornets are 5-1 on the season and will be looking to tie the 3A-4 conference race tonight when they host the 6-0 Charleston Tigers.
The improvement in Hackett has been seen over the past two seasons, and for Charleston, the Tigers are maintaining the tradition of high standards in their program. Charleston was undefeated a year ago in conference play, and they continue to win in the 3A-1 conference. The last conference loss for Charleston was in early November of 2019 when the Tigers lost at home to now Class 4A Lamar.
Hackett will be fresh off of their impressive road win at Cedarville a week ago. In fact, the only loss of the season for the Hornets was a narrow, high-scoring game loss to Lavaca. Charleston defeated Mansfield soundly in week six and has three Class 4A victories from the non-conference portion of its season win total. Tonight’s game will be a very important game for both Charleston and Hackett. If Hackett can defeat the Tigers at home tonight, the two teams would be in a tie for first place with Hackett having the tie breaker advantage over Charleston. If Charleston wins, the Tigers would give Hackett their second conference loss, and Charleston would begin to distance themselves from the rest of the conference in the standings. Both teams tonight have a lot to play for, and both teams should be in this year’s state playoffs. But as coaches will tell you, there is a big difference going into the playoffs as a seed lower than #2. Teams finishing #3 or lower usually play on the road in the state playoffs. Playing on the road can mean bus trips in excess of four hours and is very difficult to do and win in the playoffs. Conversely, a top seed going into the playoffs will keep a team at home for the majority of the rounds, and thus give them a significant advantage in the cold and difficult weeks of football state playoffs.
Both teams tonight have good team speed, and the new artificial turf at Hackett could resemble a track meet at times during the game. Weather could be a factor, possibly bringing rain throughout the contest. But the new turf should be an ideal setting for a rainy night. It will be up to the defenses to contain the speed of each others’ great skill players in this important contest.
So football fans, get out your rain gear and get ready to make the drive to Hackett for what should be a great game. Watch for a recap of this game next week in Resident Press.
Enjoy a great night of high school football!
