SAN ANGELO, TX— With anticipation building, the 1-2 Blackwell Hornets and the 2-1 Robert Lee Steers are eagerly gearing up for their Friday night showdown, visiting a rematch of last season that saw the Steers claim a 46-38 victory. The Hornets enter this next matchup with an unwavering determination to rectify their past mistakes.

“We have to do more things right and not have as many turnovers for one thing. I think we had five or six last week. We got to cut that down, and hopefully, we can hang in there and make them work a little bit and give them a good game,” said Blackwell head coach Clint Lowry.

With several losses to graduation, the Hornets now have a youthful team eager to embrace learning and continuous growth each week.

“Everyone has been filling in pretty well. Stepping up all the lower kids, they have been doing good. I am impressed with them,” said Blackwell running back Jesus Gonzalez.

“They are out there underneath the fire, and we got two kids that have a lot of varsity experience, and the rest of them haven’t, and I said you are having to learn the hard way,” said Lowry.

With a second-year head coach at the helm for the Steers and the return of 10 experienced players, they aspire to build upon their early-season success.

“I mean we all know each other, and I know what players can do, and they know what they can do. Some of them are surprising us and doing more than we thought, and that’s a positive thing, and we are just continuing to do what we do,” said Robert Lee head coach Lee McCown.

The athletes are geared up for on-field improvement and know what it takes to secure a victory.

“We need to be more physical and aggressive. We are not the biggest team, but we need to be more aggressive on the defensive side of the ball,” said Blackwell quarterback Karter Cummings.

“We are going to treat them as a great opponent and come out there and do our jobs great and be good,” said Robert Lee center Fernando Sosa.