It feels like deja vu all over again for the Hornets.

One year ago, Lometa fell to Calvert by 45 points, 59-14, in the regular season finale, losing the district title in the process.

The runners-up had a bye during the bi-district round before a highlyranked Abbott team knocked the Hornets out of the playoffs.

This year, the Hornets lost the District 16-1A Six-Man championship when Calvert walked out of Lometa with a 73-54 victory in the final district game.

One bye week later, Lometa finds itself pitted against a familiar foe in the Panthers. The game is at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Troy.

While the circumstances are the same, the Hornets have used their off time very differently than they did in 2008.

“Last year was kind of a new situation, and we didn’t know what to expect,” Lometa head coach Wendell Bradley said of the bye week. “I think the kids kind of got the idea that ‘Hey, this is a bye week and we’re on vacation, so let's just chill for a little bit.’ I think the coaching staff did too.

“[This year,] the kids have been working hard. There’s not a whole lot of hitting and knocking down, but there’s a lot of read-and-recognition type stuff.”

The coach hopes the extra preparation will pay off and his team will advance past its opening playoff game for the first time in three years.

Before being eliminated by the eventual Region IV champions last year in the regional round, Lometa suffered consecutive opening-round losses in 2006 and 2007 to Richland Springs by a combined 94 points. The Coyotes won the Six-Man Division I championship both seasons. “We’ve always managed to have a wild draw,” Bradley said. “We usually draw about the best we can get in the playoffs.”

According to the rankings at SixManFootball.com, outside of No. 5 Strawn, Abbott -- ranked eighth overall -- is the toughest school in the Hornets’ half of the playoff bracket.

While the task will not be easy, Lometa intends to be extremely physical with the Panthers in an attempt to wear down the big, strong roster. In particular, Bradley is aiming to attack Abbott’s runningbacks when they run and when they move to the defense.

“Not only are they going to be taking licks when running the ball, but they’ll also be taking licks on defense,” the coach said. “We’ll make sure we get a good shot on them every play.”

In their bi-district game last week against Trinidad, the Panthers posted 479 yards of offense with every yard coming on the ground.

Offensively, the Hornets will field a multi-dimensional attack at quarterback as Charlie Wagner and Dalton Parsons split time in an effort to confuse the defense. Against Calvert, the duo combined for 53 pass attempts, completing 27 for 400 yards and five touchdowns.

It was Parsons' first action at quarterback since breaking his arm in mid-September.

“I feel like that’s why we had such a big game offensively. They had to honor two throwers instead of one,” Bradley said. “It’s been three weeks since [Parsons] got his cast off and his arm is getting stronger, and he’s getting a little more confident.”

Bradley is making sure his team as a whole is not over confident, however. “They’re excited, but we realize we’ve got work to do,” the coach said.

After all, the Hornets do not want to repeat the past once again.