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JESSICA MALDONADO | DISPATCH RECORD
Junior Tim Juarez looks for an open receiver during Lometa’s 64-18 mercy-rule win over Ranger last Friday.
By Hunter King | Dispatch Record
Lometa picked up a dominant win Friday to move to 2-0 on the year.
The Hornets beat the Ranger Bulldogs 64-18 after Lometa missed action the prior week because of the number of COVID-19 cases.
Friday's game ended 11 seconds into the fourth quarter because of the 45-point mercy rule in six-man football. The Hornets led by more than 45 points in the second half with the ball, and that is when the mercy rule takes effect.
Head coach D.T. Torres said the game didn’t start great for Lometa, but the Hornets found their footing.
“To start out the game, we had the worst possible start on both sides of the ball,” Torres said. “We gave up a long touchdown on defense and threw an interception on our first offensive series. We were really explosive after that and played really stout defense, and it was 40-6 midway through the second quarter.”
The Hornets ran the ball very effectively in the contest, racking up 171 yards on 15 carries for an average of 11.4 yards per carry.
The leading rusher was Luis Hernandez with 86 yards on six carries and a touchdown.
“We were kind of pleased in the first game with how we ran the ball, but we thought it needed to be better, and I thought we did that this week,” Torres said.
Lometa also was effective through the air, as the Hornets went 7-10 with 161 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
The most effective passer was Tim Juarez, who was 3-3 with 97 yards and three touchdowns.
D.J. Smart was effective for the Hornets on both sides of the ball, as he caught four passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns on offense. He also made seven total tackles while in the middle of the Hornets’ defense.
“I thought we played really well defensively,” Torres said. "We were really stout and aggressive at the point of attack. Anytime you can keep them to a low number, that’s great.”
Torres added, however, that some missed tackles on defense are what led to two of the Bulldogs’ touchdowns. He said Lometa wants to clean up those mistakes.
The Hornets will take on the Cranfills Gap Lions on the road Sept. 17 in Lometa's third game of the year.
“They’re going to surprise a few people in their district,” the head coach said of Cranfills Gap. “They have a nice little core group. They haven’t given up more than a touchdown or two in their last two games. It’s going to be a really good matchup for us.”
Torres is excited for his team to keep getting better, as district play will begin in about a month. Torres said the goal is to play Lometa's best football by the time district games start.
“That’s the ultimate goal is to peak come district time and be playing your best football,” Torres said.