The Selma Times-Journal

All in all, Dallas County was decent in last week’s jamboree game in Maplesville.

But the Hornets weren’t nearly good enough to think about beating Chelsea.

The Hornets go into their first game of the season tonight facing a big mountain to climb.

Literally.

“They’re a good team,” coach Trey Baggett said. “They’ve got two good running backs. Their fullback is 6-foot-1, 245 and bigger than anyone we’ve got on our offensive line. Their running back is about 5-foot-7, and he’s (former Alabama running back) David Palmer’s son. They will throw some, but the main thing they want to do is throw the football.”

And who could blame them?

The Hornets are a team still trying to find an identity.

Facing a tough non-region opponent right off the bat won’t help things much.

But the Hornets have home-field advantage, and they have a good shot at opening the season on the left side of the win-loss column.

“It’s a game we can win if we play well,” Baggett said. “If we make plays, we’ll be in the game.”

The team will be without starting right guard Jeremy Ellis, who is nursing an ankle injury for 1-2 weeks.

DCHS had trouble running the ball last week, not a good thing against a team that will eat up clock and beat up on the Hornets’ defense.

“Hopefully, we’ll be better,” Baggett said. “We have to shore some things up on defense and just keep polishing the offense. I don’t go into a game saying we’re going to run this many times or throw this many times. It depends on how things go.”

“I was pleased with the way we threw last week.”