HOOKS, Texas-Hooks is half a game ahead of three teams with two games remaining for the Hornets, which hold their own destiny in their hands for the District 7-3A, Division II title.
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Safe Places Benefit Concert
Underground Pub was the place to be Wednesday night for the Safe Places benefit with a concert by "Afrodesia."
The Hornets are 3-1 in district after beating Daingerfield, 33-20, on the Tigers' home turf last week. Daingerfield, Paul Pewitt and New Diana are 2-1 in District, with Hooks' only loss coming to Ore City (52-41) a couple weeks back. That was the highest point total allowed by the team since the 2015 season opener.
"Even going back to last year, defense has been a strong point for us; outside of Ore City the most points we've given up was 22 since the beginning of last year," Hornet AD and head coach Chris Birdwell said. "Ore City had a good gameplay, and you can't take anything away from them. But we didn't play as well as we've been playing. Montrell was a little hurt, which hurt us a little, and we had to rely on Seth and Malik more on offense, which in turn hurt us on defense. It was just a chain reaction type deal.
"I would say one bad defensive game in two years isn't too bad, but it hurt us pretty bad and put our backs against the wall. We can still the district championship-we just have to win out. You plan on winning them all anyway; we just made it harder on ourselves."
Hooks is 4-4 overall and has had a bit of an up-and-down season, especially going 1-3 in non-district. The first few weeks of the season the Hornets spent looking for the right replacement for senior Jordan Johnson, a verbal commitment to Air Force Academy who went down in a preseason scrimmage with a season-ending injury.
"The problem early was adjusting to (not having Johnson), and at one time we were rotating four to five kids taking snaps," Birdwell said. "It took us some time to figure out what works best for us, and we had two main guys rotating in there. About halftime of the Hughes Springs game (Week 4), our sophomore, Connor Price, stepped up and had a good game. We've gone with him ever since.
"We still do a lot of things with Montrell (Estell) and find different ways to get him the ball; he takes a lot of snaps at quarterback, as well. But Connor has been our main guy."
Montrell Estell, a verbal commitment to Texas as a safety, leads the Hornets rushing with 47 carries for 654 yards-a 13.9 average-and 11 touchdowns. Malik Estell has 56 rushes for 473 yards and seven scores, Seth Mahar adds 329 yards on 50 totes and three TDs, and P.J. Dickerson has 26 carries for 325 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Montrell also has 19 receptions for 337 yards and four scores, freshman Marquiz Estell has 11 catches for 178 yards, and Malik has caught nine balls for 102 yards and two TDs.
"Our plan coming into the season was to rotate Malik and Seth at tailback with Jordan standing beside them, and that way it keeps them fresh on defense," Birdwell said. "They've been our leading tacklers since they were sophomores, and those two compete with each other every game for tackles. When Jordan went down, we started to start playing a two-tailback system with both of them back there.
"That hurt them defensively because they weren't used to playing both ways all the time."
Mahar has a slight lead in tackles with 104 to Malik's 103. Malik also has two interceptions to match Montrell, who has 74 tackles. Marquiz contributes 60 tackles, Tavion Rigsby adds 51 stops, and Alec Smith and Shamar Jefferson have 47 tackles apiece.
Senior offensive tackle/defensive end Ishmael Threadgill and senior defensive tackle/guard Dylan Pool have helped anchor the lines for the Hornets.
"We had to put in a whole new system," Birdwell said. "The injury to Jordan, you think it's just one player out, but it affects you on defense, on special teams and everywhere else. It's something the kids have had to adjust to, and I think they've taken it on and, for the most part, done a pretty good job with it.
"We just need to continue to get better and concentrate on ourselves. When we play well defensively and control the clock on offense, we're usually OK. When that stuff doesn't happen and the defense has to stay out there for a long time, or we're not playing well defensively and we put too much pressure on our offense, that's when we have our downfalls. Every week it can be a new kids step up for us."