By Tom Waddill
Beware of the Bulldogs. That’s the message Huntsville football coach Mitchell Coey has been trying to make clear for the Hornets this week.
The Waller Bulldogs are winless in five tries this season, but Coey says tonight’s opponent may be one of the best 0-5 teams in Texas.
Twice, the Bulldogs have lost by four points this season, and on another occasion Waller dropped a tough 30-22 decision to a Rosenberg Terry team that is currently 4-1.
“Waller has played a pretty good schedule,” Coey said after a brief workout Thursday afternoon at Mance Park Middle School. “Their preseason schedule is as tough as any team around, with La Marque, Rosenberg (Terry) and Nederland. Against Nederland, they were leading most of the way until the end of the game.
“Waller hasn’t been real charmed. We kind of know that feeling, and hopefully, the tide won’t turn on Friday night.”
The Hornets (1-1 in District 18-4A, 2-3 overall) have seen the Bulldogs on film. They say Waller hardly resembles a team that is still searching for its first win.
“They look pretty good — they look pretty physical,” Huntsville defensive lineman Quenntin Tucker said. “They’re pretty big, but we’ve just got to do what we do and be physical back. We can’t underestimate them just because their 0-and-5. They’re looking for a win and they’re hungry for a win.”
Offensive lineman Jamaal Lenoir remembers the Hornets’ win over Waller last fall. The Bulldogs came up a yard short of a major upset. Huntsville gang-tackled Waller running back Jacobie White on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line to preserve a 10-6 victory.
“They’re going to be looking for revenge,” Lenoir said. “We stopped them at the 1-yard line and they probably want to get even for that.”
After dropping all of their nondistrict games, the Bulldogs lost to Magnolia 24-20 when Magnolia scored a touchdown with 2:01 left in the game. Waller had taken a 20-17 lead by scoring two touchdowns in the second half, but coach Jason Morley’s team could not hang on in the battle of the District 18-4A Bulldogs.
Waller is led by senior quarterback Miller Pierce and senior tailback Glen Gilliam. According to the Hornets, Pierce makes the Bulldogs offense go.
“They count on their quarterback to make a lot of plays,” Tucker said of Pierce, who has rushed for 485 yards on 85 carries. He has run for five touchdowns and thrown for two more. “If we stop him, we should do pretty good.”
Coey said the Hornets better be prepared both physically and mentally. If they’re not, Waller will likely notch its first win against a Huntsville team that is trying to stay in the thick of the playoff race.
“Waller is probably thinking, ‘Hey, we’ve got a chance to get one from old Huntsville,’” Coey said. “We need to eliminate our mistakes and take care of the football. We’ve also got to execute on offense. We’ve got to be able to move the ball.
“Our defense is pretty good. It is potent at times, but we can’t leave those guys out there forever. We’ve got to make some first downs and we’ve got to move the chains.”
The Hornets moved the chains fairly well in their 52-15 win over Caney Creek two weeks ago in the district opener. Last week, Brenham’s defense kept the Hornets quiet for four quarters. Huntsville managed only 143 yards of total offense in a 30-14 loss to the Cubs.
The Hornets say they’ve learned from last week’s loss. They’re ready to back on track and resume their quest for a playoff spot.
“We’ve got to play with heart,” offensive lineman Danny Murray said. “We’ve also got to limit our mistakes, do our plays right and don’t mess up.”
Coey added, “Every other week we play pretty good football. That means we’re not very consistent, or we haven’t been so far this season. I don’t want to make excuses, but we didn’t have all of our starting offensive linemen healthy last week. Hopefully, we’re back intact there, but we’ve just got to execute what we’ve been doing since day one.
“If we keep our defense off the field a little bit and put some points on the board, I think we’ll be all right.”
