Hornet Country
3-1 Louise faces under-rated Shiner team
By CHRIS BARBEE cbarbee@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Shannon Crabtree Good Blocking Louise Hornet Desmond Pulliam goes in for a touchdown with 6:54 left in the third quarter to take the Hornets to a 26-6 llead against Boling Friday. The Hornets went on to stomp the Bulldogs 35-14, and Pulliam had a total of 12 rushes for 87 yards.

The Louise Hornets varsity football team is feeling pretty good after beating up on Boling 35-14 Friday night. But a much bigger and more talented Shiner Comanches team will travel to Louise this Friday night to get District 31-A competition under way.

Hornets head coach and athletic director Rodney Dowell said Shiner's 1-3 record should not deceive anyone.

"Look at who they've lost to," he said, mentioning 2A Schulenberg, Brazos and 2A East Bernard. They beat Thrall 13-3. We know they can be beat … we know we are capable of doing that, we just need to do it," he said of his 3-1 Hornets.

"They're Shiner and Shiner is always good. They tend to do the same thing every year in what is a pretty good system. It's just different kids running the same thing. They do it so well they're usually difficult to stop," Dowell said.

He said Shiner's senior quarterback, Kyle Condel, is someone to watch. "Not only is he a great quarterback, but he's an unbelievable punter. He'll kick it 50 or 60 yards in the air. He's a great athlete," Dowell said.

Another senior, running back D.J. Pustka is a good player, and Cody Franke who plays receiver, running back and middle linebacker is anoth- er Comanche to watch.

"The strength of their team is in their offensive and defensive lines. They do a good job. They are big and they're strong and we're going to have to come ready to play. We've had an opportunity to beat them the last two years, but we let them get away. We really don't want to let them off the hook again," the coach said.

To win, Louise must stop the veer.

"Defensively we have to play technique and be disciplined up front. Offensively we've got to be sure we're coming off the football hard and being aggressive. Our offense is pretty adaptable to what people are doing to us, so we want to make sure we make the right changes during the game. We will work on that this week."

Dowell said he was impressed last week with how his Hornets responded to the season-ending knee injuries sustained by quarterback NIck Barrera and running back C.J. Clements. Defensively they both started at cornerback.

"I'm so proud of our kids. They could have used the injuries as an excuse to just lay down. But they didn't. They used it as a motivation to step it up.

"We think we're still a really good football team. We'd really love to have those two guys, but you can't wallow in the past," Dowell said.

At wingback the Hornets are now using Chris Hicks and Clint Barrera, Nick's brother. And at cornerback Michael Jacinto and Wesley Branscum. Branscum was splitting time with Nick Barrera anyway so as not to affect his quarterbacking duties.

Commenting on El Campo being open Friday night, Dowell issued an invitation. "Make sure to tell all those El Campo people to come watch Louise. I have a lot of respect for Coach Gillis and all those kids over there doing such a good job. It's mutual respect and a good relationship we have with one another and I really enjoy it."