Seen barrelling over a Manor defender during the season-opener, Lampasas’ leading rusher Secody Howard will spearhead the Badgers’ ground game in their toughest challenge of the season when they travel to Lorena to face the highly ranked Leopards. PHOTOS BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Since falling to Austin McCallum in the playoffs’ bi-district round last season, the Badgers have been studying.

To Lampasas, its final exam will span the course of five weeks beginning in early October, when Burnet comes to town for the district opener. A second consecutive trip to the postseason equates to a passing grade.

So far, the Badgers have achieved high grades on both their early-season exams by beating Manor on the road and Austin Travis in overtime last week.

While both were worthy opponents who pushed Lampasas to its very end, tonight’s game at No. 11 Lorena should serve as the Badgers’ biggest challenge to date.

Although Badger junior linebacker Stephen McKinney had no problem bringing down this Rebel player, Lampasas missed a number of tackles, which led to big gains for Austin Travis last week. “We’ve gone from having pop quizzes to having our first formal quiz, and once district starts, we’ll have the real test,” Lampasas head coach Joey McQueen said. “With each test we take, we want to see if we’ve improved. Naturally, we want to win the game, but the most important part to me is if we got better after that game.

“If we ever get blown out, then we didn’t study right for the test, but I think we have studied right. I’ll be very disappointed if our kids don’t play hard and don’t step up to the challenge, because they are ready.”

After winning the first two games of the season by a combined four points, McQueen desperately wants to avoid playing in a third consecutive back-and- forth contest. In addition to needing an overtime touchdown to defeat the Rebels last Friday, the Badgers waited until the final snap at Manor to secure the victory.

After receiving his first playing time last week following a preseason ankle injury, running back Justin Maldonado should see his role increased this week. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KUEHNE “I don’t like shootouts,” McQueen said. “We’ve stayed in games because [our opponents] are scoring in 30 seconds, and we’re scoring in seven minutes. They score in 45 seconds, we score in eight minutes.” Unfortunately, Lampasas might not have a say in the matter.Th e Leopards, who sit just outside the top 10 in the latest Padilla Poll Class 3A rankings after reaching the Class 3A Division II quarterfinals in 2009, are averaging 42 points a game and have developed a flare for exploding on offense.

During their first game of the season against West, Lorena scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to win 41-13. Last week, the Leopards used a 29-point outburst in the second quarter to defeat Grandview 43-33.

“We have to stop that,” McQueen said. “They have the capability to put lots of points on the board.”

While the explosive offense is a serious threat to the Badgers’ unblemished record, McQueen discovered the Leopards’ defense was susceptible to the run against Grandview, and he plans to attack the team’s soft spot.

Zebra running back Daniel Spencer ran for 126 of the team’s 243 rushing yards against Lorena. More importantly, Grandview accumulated the yardage on just 28 attempts -- an average of 8.7 yards per carry.

In two games, Lampasas is averaging 280.5 rushing yards and has run the ball a total of 142 times.

With a wide array backs at his disposal -- including the Badgers’ top rusher Secody Howard (199 yards, 55 carries) -- McQueen is certain his ball carriers are up to the task of slowing down tonight’s game and helping the Badgers win the time of possession battle.

“I love them,” the coach said of his running backs. “They are just fun to be around, and they are excited about playing.”

This season, seven different players have carried the ball for Lampasas, with three getting at least 20 touches. Quarterback Colton Perkins sits right behind the trio of fullbacks Howard, Blaine White and running back Julian Dela Cruz with 18 carries.

The Badgers average 32 points per game on the season, 10 below Lorena’s typical production, and they will need to continue to hold the ball on offense and improve their team tackling if they want to offset the difference.

During the Austin Travis game, the Badgers missed a number of tackles against the Rebels’ athletic backfield and receivers.

In the week since, however, the defense has been focusing to avoid similar problems tonight.

“We’ve got to get better at tackling,” McQueen said. “Of course, our defensive coaches know that, and our kids know that. It’s not that they are not in position to make a play, because they are, but when they get there, they can’t just thump the guy. They’ve got to knock them off their feet.

“They’ve got to break down and run through the tackle.”

If the Badgers did their homework correctly, they will receive another passing grade following tonight’s first “formal quiz.” The Matchup

Teams Lampasas (2-0) @ Lorena (2-0)

Last Week

Lampasas defeated Austin Travis 37-34 in overtime. Lorena beat Grandview 43-33.

Key Players

Lampasas: Running backs Secody Howard, Justin Maldonado, Julian Dela Cruz; Quarterback Colton Perkins; Offensive line Rafael Cazares; Center Chirs Sanders; Safety B.J. Alexander; Defensive end Joey Burks; Safety Tanner Swinford; Linebackers Stephen McKinney, Layton Irvin, Blaine White; Corner backs Brandon Scott, Alan Figurski.

Lorena: Running back Kailin Ketcherside; Quarterback Fisher Simpson; Offensive line Dalton Berryhill; Linebackers Colby Gordon, Rhett Williams, Jakob Coker; Safety Chandler Snodgrass; Defensive end Christian Rivera.

At Stake

Lampasas looks for its first 3-0 start to a season since 2005, while Lorena aims to move into the top 10 of the state’s Class 3A rankings with a victory.