Tate Hanna inherited a lot when he took over the head football job at Lake.
He inherited a team that won just one game from the previous year with an identity crisis and a fragile ego.
But the veteran coach feels like he also inherited a load of talented players and a challenging schedule.
The Hornets will open the season with a pre-season jamboree with Class 4A Newton County.
“I think a lot of our season goes back to that jamboree and how we play against Newton County,” Hanna said. “We have to be successful early to get us going in the right direction. We need to have a good showing, be successful on offense and defense and hit people in the mouth. I think if we are successful in the jamboree, I think it could lead to a good game against Pelahatchie.”
The Hornets open the regular season against former Division 6-2A opponent Pelahatchie, a team that beat Lake 56-53 last year, scoring the winning touchdown with 14 seconds left in the game.
“We watched them in the spring and they have a really good quarterback,” Hanna said. “We are going to have to do a great job of containing him. And they always have a lot of good skill people.”
After the Chiefs, the Hornets will host Sebastopol in the home opener, a team they beat 40-12 last year for their only win of the season.
“They are always big up front and give you a bunch of looks on offense,” Hanna said. “Coach (Jason) Greene changes things up every week so you never know. I just know they are always big up front so you know they are going to run the power stuff.”
The Hornets then pick up a new opponent in week three with Clarkdale, a team that went 2-9 last year.
“I don’t know a lot about Clarkdale,” Hanna said. “We played them last year at Union and they were down a little bit and pretty young. They were pretty good two years ago and will be well coached. They have a lot of kids back and will be well coached and try to fool you with misdirection and throw in a play-action pass every now and then.”
After Clarkdale, the Hornets get a shot at Class 2A’s reigning player of the year in Pisgah’s Don Ragsdale, who finished the year with a whopping 3,081 yards and 38 TDs. He had a modest 215 yards and four TDs against Lake in a 45-13 win. Ragsdale rushing total was 10th best in the country last year and second best in Mississippi to East Central’s Tony Brown who had 3,317 yards.
“After watching them on film last year, that was a close game for a while,” Hanna said. “You know you have to contain Ragsdale. I expect him to be good again. I know his family tree has been good and I don’t expect anything different from him.”
After dealing the state’s rushing champion will deal with a pair of spread teams in Choctaw Central on Sept. 15 and Richland on Sept. 22 to round out non-division play.
“Choctaw is new to the schedule and you know they will have some good skill guys,” Hanna said. “They are going to spread you out and try to beat you vertical down the field. You have to be ready to defend the pass. Richland beat us last year with a lot of deep balls.
“There are no pushovers there but in the same instance, I think we have a chance to win every one of them. You look at the first six and that’s preparing you for what’s probably the best district in 2A football.”
The Hornets will open that rugged 5-2A schedule with their budding rival in Union, where Hanna was a volunteer assistant last year.
“Brad and I have known each other for more than 20 years,” Hanna said. “Brad’s teams are going to be the most well prepared team that you play. They are going to be sound in all three phases of the game. My brother is the defensive coordinator and I’m sure will have them ready to go against us. Union has probably become the biggest rival for Lake with the Breland Bowl the last couple of years. I expect it to be a big game and a big turnout.”
The Hornets follow Union with an open date and then finish the regular season with a rugged three-game stretch, beginning with an Oct. 13 home date with rival Scott Central.
“Last year, it’ was a very close game and came down to the last quarter and I expect it to be a close game this year,” Hanna said. “Hopefully, we can be in great shape and out-physical them.”
Then the Hornets hit the road for what should be one of Class 2A’s better teams in Philadelphia.
“I think everybody in the district is dreading that one with them dropping down from 3A with all of those seniors,” Hanna said. “They will be the big dogs right now and everybody will be shooting for them. With 20 seniors and dropping down to 2A ball, that will be a tall task to handle.”
The Hornets will round out the regular season less than 10 miles down the road at Newton’s E.L. Morgan Field.
“Ryan Smith did a great job of turning them around last year,” Hanna said. “They will be air raid on offense and we will have to do a good job of stopping the long ball and containing the two twins. They are probably the top two players in our district right now.”
