LHS hopes to badger Bruni for first round
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Shannon Crabtree Hajovsky Holds On Louise's Cory Hajovsky (8) is a threat on the ground and through the air. The Hornet quarterback will be one of Louise's weapons Friday as they take on the Bruni Badgers at Rockport in the first round of the playoffs.

31-A Football DISTRICT STANDINGS

After clinching their first playoff appearance in years Friday, Louise's time to celebrate is over. Now, the Hornets are hitting the field in preparation for Friday's first-round match.

Louise will face the Bruni Badgers at Pirate Stadium in Rockport at 7:30 p.m. The Hornets have a serious chance at tasting victory once again.

The Hornets take on a Bruni team with a lot of questions.

A 9-1 record makes the Badgers look good, but their schedule makes their record misleading. Bruni's only game against a team with a winning record was a 57-22 loss against District 32-A champion La Villa. One of Bruni's wins came against La Joya's junior varsity team.

Rodney Dowell, head coach of the Hornets, admitted that Bruni's schedule may have been easy this year, but said there is no reason to look past the Badgers.

"They are big up front," Dowell said. "They're 9-1 and a good football team. They have scored a ton of points and average about 45 points per game. If you're 9-1, you've done something right."

Dowell said he thinks Bruni's strength is their size. A big offensive line anchors their running game. The Badgers routinely set up in shotgun and I formations and run the ball right up the middle, which plays into Louise's defensive game plan.

"They like to run between the tackles," Dowell said. "Not many people have been able to run between the tackles on the Louise Hornets and that's a large majority of their offense.

"We feel good about that because we've had bigger and stronger teams that have tried to do that. Shiner had some success against us and these guys are big and good, but they're not Shiner."

Even with the big defensive line, the Badgers may be at a disadvantage when facing the Hornets. Big and powerful lines have been susceptible to Louise's quick running game this season.

"On the defensive side, I feel like total team speed goes to us," Dowell said. "They've got a couple of kids in their secondary and their linebacking core that have some good speed, but their defensive front is real slow. We feel like if we get one or two blocks on the perimeter, we can go.

"With the things we like to do up the middle that hit so quick, the defensive linemen are going to have a hard time, I feel, stopping our backs from getting by them."

Louise will bring a tough trio against the Badger defense. Fullback Kyle Lawson, running back Antwon Parson and quarterback Cory Hajovsky have been playing well lately and give the Hornets three solid options on game day.

The three playmakers teamed up to help Louise claim a playoff spot with a win in Pettus Friday.

Hornets 14, Pettus 6

"Everybody seems to overlook Cory," Dowell said. "Pettus was doing that too and if I had to give an MVP of that game, it would be Cory Hajovsky without a doubt. He played a tremendous game and threw for 79 yards. I know he threw his first interception of the year, but we haven't thrown a single interception all year long until the other night. He also threw for a touchdown.

"You may think, 'Oh, 79 yards is nothing.' But what you don't realize is those are mostly third-down conversions and he put the ball right where people could catch them. What I'm saying is, (Bruni) is going to have a tough time stopping the 3-pronged attack that we've got with the things that we do."

The Pettus Eagles had a difficult time stopping Louise's offense.

Parson and Lawson combined for 202 rushing touchdowns in the Hornet's playoffclinching win.

As for Friday's Bruni game, the Hornets are expecting to play with the same intensity they finished the season with. If that happens, Louise could be looking at a second-round playoff game either Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving.

That would mean the cancellation of some holiday plans, but Dowell welcomes the idea of more practice and less turkey.

"I tell them all the time, 'Please, whatever you do, don't make me go eat my mother's turkey dinner on Thanksgiving,'" Dowell said. "We talk about stuff like that all the time. To me that is the most fun time if the year.