By Rick Lanier
For the Opelika
Observer
It had been 42 years since a team from Georgia came to Beauregard to stir up the Hornet’s nest. On that Friday night in 1977, Beauregard defeated Southeast Macon 21-14 to improve their record against teams from Georgia to 6-4-0. Last Friday night, the Harris County Tigers from Hamilton came to the nest and sprayed more than 400 yards of total offense on it, defeating the Hornets 38-14.
Unfortunately for the Hornets, it was more of the same story of the 2019 season. The Hornets were well prepared and highly motivated; they played hard, their hearts out and fought to the end; they executed some big plays, made nice runs and great catches; they also made mistakes and untimely turnovers. In the end, they were simply out-sized, out-talented and outscored.
The Hornets had plenty of chances to make things interesting however. The swarm of Quarterback Cason Blackmon (278 yards total passing) and wide receivers Tyler Gordon, K. J. Malloy and Jaion Goodson (one catch for a touchdown) led the Hornets into the red zone on three separate occasions, but each drive ended with no points.
“On one of our drives down there deep, I made a bad call and that’s on me,” confessed Coach Rob Carter.
Not scoring when they have had their chances appears to be a recurring theme for the Hornet’s offense and something they are working on diligently.
“We moved the ball well, but just couldn’t get it in the end zone” Carter added, “(and) we will keep working to find a way.”
Defensively, the Hornets faced a fast and efficient “ground-and-pound” style running attack from the Tigers, who used their size and speed advantages to move the ball and chew up the clock. At halftime, the Hornets’ defensive coaches made some effective run-support adjustments like inserting starting offensive lineman Ethan Smith into the defensive line, where he played well.
When asked if Smith was going to play both sides of the ball in the future, Carter said “he did tonight, we will see.”
The changes slowed Harris County down in the second half, holding them to 10 points, but the Hornets overall team performance just was not enough to prevent another disappointing loss.
“We’re young, we keep fighting and getting better, I like what I see going forward,” Carter said.
Beauregard travels to Greenville next Friday for a 7 p.m. kick-off.
The school is located at 100 Tiger Drive in Greenville.