Monday, March 18, 2024

Hornets fall to Smithville in bi-district playoffs

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The most successful Gatesville football season in five years ended on Friday thanks to a 24-14 loss to Smithville in the bi-district playoffs.

The Hornets fell behind 17-0 in the first quarter and were down 24-0 at the half before mounting a second-half comeback.

Mason Mooney scored Gatesville’s only offensive touchdown of the night on a one-yard run in the third quarter to cut the lead to 24-6.

The Hornets cut deeper into the lead just before the end of the third quarter on Adrian Smith’s second interception return for a touchdown in as many games. With less than a minute to go in the quarter, Smith intercepted a Derrick Roberson pass, weaved through a gang of would-be tacklers and cut the lead to 24-12.

Gatesville’s final points came on a safety when Smithville snapped the ball out of the back of its own end zone, making it a 24-14 score.

“We picked a bad night to have a bad night,” said head coach Aaron Hunter. “We just weren’t locked in and focused and didn’t do enough to win the game.”

The conditions at Hutto Memorial Stadium Friday were less-than-stellar as frigid temperatures and strong winds contributed to an uncharacteristically sloppy game from the Hornets. The Hornets committed seven turnovers on the night and were plagued by penalties on the offensive side.

Also, Gatesville was also coming off a two-week hiatus as the Hornets had their open week during the final weekend of the regular season.

Hunter acknowledged that the conditions weren’t ideal, but stopped well short of making it a cause for the loss.

“It’s a little bit of all (the conditions). It’s a little bit of having two weeks off. We just couldn’t execute, and shot ourselves in the foot a thousand times with penalties,” he said.

The Hornet defense – which rebounded in the second half – had four takeaways on the night. In addition to the interception from Smith, they recovered two fumbles and forced one turnover on downs.

“At halftime we could have folded but we didn’t. I’m proud of that,” Hunter said.

The loss marked the end of the careers for members of a stellar senior GHS class who were freshman during Gatesville’s 0-10 season in 2019 but saw three straight playoff berths over their time as Hornets. They capped it with Gatesville’s first winning season since 2017.

“I’m pleased. A winning season is a big deal. It wasn’t a grind at all and winning obviously helps with that,” Hunter said. “This was a special group of seniors that worked extremely hard.”

In addition to the varsity’s 7-4 season, the junior varsity finished 6-4 and the freshman finished 4-4-2.

“None of our teams had a losing season. Which hadn’t happened in a long time,” Hunter said.

On the offensive side the Hornets will look to replace an explosive receiving trio in 2023. Seniors Trevor Smith (696 yards, 6 TD), Tyler Shea (386 yards, 5 TD), and Kyle Shafer (324 yards, 6 TD) accounted for 1,406 of Jacob Newkirk’s 2,003 passing yards on the season and 17 of his 21 passing touchdowns.

Newkirk will return along with the running back duo of Rayshon Smith and Jimmy Hall. Smith, the sensational sophomore, ran for 1,015 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2022 while Hall added five rushing touchdowns of his own.

And perhaps the most notable crew of returners will be the offensive line – who lose only one senior, center Steven Bomar, to graduation. The Hornets will bring back five offensive lineman who started or saw significant time on the line – Zach Bryant, Tookie Jones, Gabe Pollard, Gabe Charles, and Nathan Elliott.

“Ever since I got here, we have replaced four offensive linemen every year. This year, Bomar was the only returner. That’s a group that we are going to lean on heavily in the offseason,” Hunter said.

Defensively, the losses will be more pronounced as the linebacking corps will look significantly different in 2023. The Hornets will graduate Mason Mooney (118 tackles, 4 TFL, 1 INT), Ashtyn Culley (106 tackles, 7 TFL, two fumble recoveries), and Thiele Alvarado (98 tackles, 6 TFL, 2 sacks). Culley and Alvarado are three-year letterman while Mooney was a two-year letterman.

The defense will lose Lucas Garcia (12 tackles for a loss), Kason Herbelin (team-leading 6 interceptions), and Ayden Necessary (75 tackles, 2 interceptions). In total, the Hornets will look to replace in 2023 a group that represented 90 percent of their sack total, 81 percent of their tackles for a loss, and 54 percent of their takeaways in 2022. 

Though the losses are big for the Hornets, so are the names coming back. The versatile trio of Adrian Smith, Sean Aguilar, and Lawson Mooney return and will provide more than just stability. Smith finished the season with 2 interceptions returns for scores and caught a touchdown pass on offense. And the duo of Aguilar (91 tackles, 5 INT) and Lawson Mooney (team-leading 147 tackles, 5 TFL, 2 INT) will be back to add to their career running totals of opponents who need to be helped off the field. 

In addition, Charles Kemmitz returns to anchor the defensive line with Corey Burns while defensive back Colton Taylor and safety Tommy Aaron will see their impact increase in 2023.

Less than 48 hours removed from the end of the season, Hunter was confident his team would be even better the next time they take the field.

“We did take some steps. The next step you have to take is learning to take that next step forward and to truly get to that point of believing that ‘it doesn’t matter who you play.’ We’re going to be even better next year.”