The Hornet’s football season has come to an end. They fought their way through 2 playoff games and even got to host one on their home turf. They played their first game coming back from their district championship on Friday, Nov. 16 against the Colleyville Panthers. The Hornets had no trouble getting a winning score of 52-20 against Colleyville and this was their ticket to their second playoff game in Abilene.

The Friday morning after Thanksgiving the town of Azle set up to cheer on our boys with a 6 a.m. send-off. The football team received a police escort as well as having the MGP, Cheer and Hornet Muscle, and Dazzlers send them off to their second playoff game. They arrived at Anthony Field in Abilene and prepared for the game to start at 11 a.m.

“You know you know you’re special when you’re playing a game at someone else’s home and you have three or four times more fans than they do in their home stadium it really shows that the community loves us by the way they support us,” junior Matthew Parkison said.

Hornet fans filled the stands on that windy day ready to cheer the Hornets on. After many plays and first downs, it was halftime with Azle up 12-6.

“I remember Coach telling me that we were going to go out and we were going to score and basically come out again and not shut down,” junior Matthew Parkison said. The Hornets ran back onto the field after halftime and looked ready to go, but the energy of the game felt different. The Hornets were still fighting and pushing through the game but Coronado fought back. There were six minutes left and the Hornets were winning 34-20, but six minutes was all that Coronado needed. The crowd was cheering: “I believe that we will win, I believe that we will win!” Tension filled the stadium and soon Coronado scored and was now up 35-34. With 9 seconds left on the clock, the Hornets were about 3 yards away from the end zone.

“Their special teams came in and we just didn’t keep our petal to the metal and we didn’t come back and we kept them in the game the whole time and that’s what happens when you play good teams,” junior Jonathan Lester said.

Just like that, the Hornets were stripped of their winning streak and that was the end of an amazing football season. The heartbreak was evident as the Hornets lined up to high five the opposing team. The amount of sportsmanship the Hornet’s displayed was incredible as they ran over and the Azle side of the stadium went wild and cheered because they were so proud. This season will be one to remember; the football team of 2018 definitely made their mark. #b4l