SELMA – Coach Shepherd Skanes and his Concordia College Hornets can get immediate revenge for the 31-30 season-ending loss to Texas College in Tyler, Texas.

The Hornets open the season today by hosting Texas College at 5 p.m. at Memorial Field. But Skanes and his squad won’t have the same satisfaction this year.

“They’ve got a whole new coaching staff,” Skanes said earlier this week. “It’s going to be tough to determine what to look for. We’ve just had to prepare for everything.”

The Hornets will be looking to improve on last year’s 5-6 record — a record that could have easily been a winning 6-5 mark if not for the 1-point loss to Texas College.

“We most definitely want to win our opener,” Skanes said. “We just have to be ready.”

As with any football season opener, the mood around the Concordia campus is one of anticipation.

“The atmosphere on the team has been high,” he said. “The kids are ready to get it going.”

With the game at Memorial Stadium, the Hornets hope to use the home-field advantage to their advantage.

“It’s always good to play the first one in the home stadium,” Skanes said.

The next contest for Concordia will be Alabama State’s season opener Sept. 5 in Montgomery.