PHOTO BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Matt Finto holds on to Gatesville's C.L. Riddle as he runs for a handful of his 42 rushing yards. The Hornets compiled 368 yards of total offense in the 34-0 victory. The open date in the Badgers' schedule could not have come at a better time for the team's defense.

Lampasas' defensive unit was on the field for a majority of the game against Gatesville as the offense struggled to move the ball in the 34-0 road loss. By the time the final whistle sounded, the Hornets tallied 368 total yards of offense in 64 plays from scrimmage.

"[The defense] played too many snaps," defensive coordinator Jimmy Randolph said. "They kept hammering and hammering away at us, and they're big.

"It wore us down, but I was proud of our defense; they played hard."

Rush Seaver led Lampasas' defense, accounting for 11 solo tackles, with Gabe Sanchez recording eight. Adrian Castillo and Seth Fry each assisted on 10 tackles, while Garrett Gould and Cory Summers recorded a sack apiece.

The Badgers now have two weeks to prepare for their Oct. 3 district opener against Hendrickson.

While the effort was evident from the Lampasas defenders, unfortunately it did not translate to the scoreboard or the stat sheet.

After coming out strong and stopping the Hornets on their first two series, the Badgers allowed Gatesville to post its first seven points of the evening on a 35-yard punt return by C.L. Riddle with 11:47 remaining in the second quarter. The punt was partially blocked after the snap sailed high.

Just plays before, Matt Finto -- who handles the deep snaps -- separated his shoulder, but he tried to play through the pain.

"He got hit, took a shot and then we had to call punt, and he went out there to snap it," head coach Ryan Bailey said.

During the next series, junior Edward Grant was stripped of the ball, and Gatesville began its third drive with excellent field position at the Lampasas 26-yard line.

Six plays later, Cody Sheets charged across the goal line for a four-yard touchdown. The Hunter Worley extra-point attempt went awry, however, leaving the score 13-0.

After going three-and-out on its next possession, Lampasas saw the Hornets put together another efficient scoring drive of 65 yards, capped off by Kevin Clarke's oneyard run on a first-and-goal situation. Clarke finished with a gamehigh 95 yards on 21 carries.

At halftime, Gatesville owned a 20-0 advantage.

Quarterback Shane Clark went a perfect nine-of-nine passing for 111 yards in the half and ended with 148 yards on 12 completions, including three to Josh Janisch that accounted for 65 yards.

The Badger defense came out strong after the break, forcing back-to-back punts on the Hornets' first two possessions, but the offense simply couldn't move the ball.

After punting to Gatesville with 2:07 left in the third quarter, the Hornets began a drive that ended on the first play of the fourth quarter when backup quarterback Jake Truss connected with Janisch on a seven-yard touchdown strike.

The extra point gave Gatesville a commanding 27-0 lead with 11:54 left on the clock.

After Worley's missed field goal one possession later, Lampasas again lost grasp of the football when Brode DuBose fumbled, setting up Gatesville's final 35-yard scoring drive. Clarke gave the Hornets their final points by getting into the end zone on a three-yard run with 43 seconds left on the clock.

"They kept fighting the whole game. They never quit, and I'm proud of them for that," Bailey said. "The inability of our offense to move the ball gave our defense fits."

Junior Gabe Terrell earned the Badgers' second first down of the game on their last drive of the contest. The first came in the first quarter when Gatesville was penalized 15 yards on a facemask violation.

Lampasas ended the contest with a total of four first downs on just 113 yards of total offense.

DuBose led the way with 50 rushing yards on 13 carries.

Quarterbacks Vann Millican and Astin Murray combined to go twoof 15 passing for 18 yards.

"We couldn't pass it to loosen them up," Bailey said. "We've got to work on our quick passing game."

The Badgers would like to have gained the victory and its accompanying momentum heading into their district schedule, but Randolph feels the team has what it takes to break through its losing streak before the season is over.

"Tough times never last; tough people do," Randolph said. "We're going to keep plugging away and keep fighting, and eventually something is going to click."

Game Stats

Score By Quarters

Lampasas 0 0 0 0 — 0
Gatesville 0 20 0 14 — 34

Scoring Summary

First Quarter
None
Second Quarter
GHS — C.L. Riddle 35-yard punt
return (Hunter Worley kick)
GHS — Cody Sheets 4-yard pass
GHS — Kevin Clarke 1-yard run
(Worley kick)
Third Quarter
None
Fourth Quarter
GHS — Jake Truss 7-yard pass to
Josh Janisch (Worley kick)
GHS — Clarke 3-yard run (Worley
kick)

Team Stats

	LHS	GHS
First Downs	4	17
Rushing Yards	95	208
Passing Yards	18	160
Total Yards	113	368
C-A-I	2-15-0	14-18-0
Fumbles-Lost	2-2	0-0
Punts-Avg.	8-35.6	3-47.7
Penalties-Yards	5-50	5-45

Individual Stats

Rushing — LHS: Brode DuBose 13- 50, Edward Grant 4-20, Gabe Terrell 3-18, Jonathan VanLiew 2-6, Vann Millican 2-1, Astin Murray 2-0; GHS: Kevin Clarke 21-95, C.L. Riddle 4-42, Cody Sheets 7-21, Jake Truss 3-19, Cody Navarro 3-17, Shane Clark 6-11, Maverick Williams 2-3.

Passing — LHS: Murray 1-8-0-15, Millican 1-7-0-3. GHS: Clark 12-15-0- 148, Truss 2-3-0-12.

Receiving — LHS: VanLiew 1-15, Cole Ball 1-3. GHS: Josh Janisch 3-65, Ross Wallace 3-29, Garrett Johnson 1-29, Riddle 2-19, Sheets 1-8, Kyle Shaw 1-5, Justin Biedrycki 1-3, Clarke 1-2, Williams 1-0.