Hatton Hornets

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Aug. 19—Lay of the land

The Hornets enter Class 3A, Region 5 with East Lawrence, Curry, Danville, Fayette County, Haleyville, Oakman and Winfield. — Head coach

Nikita Stover enters his second year as the head coach at Hatton. — Last season

The Hornets (7-4, 6-2) finished third in Class 4A, Region 7 and fell 20-19 in the first round of the playoffs at Madison Academy. — Words to grow on

After a winning record in his first season with the Hornets, Stover said this season is all about being meeting their own expectations.

"We think we can do great things this season," he said. "We don't want to jump the gun on a lot of things, but we know our potential and that's what we're living off of, fulfilling that." — Quarterback

Four-year starter Tasean Love graduated. Replacing him is a three-headed race between Taegen Burleson, Tristan Bolding and East Limestone transfer Cade Parham.

"It's been a great battle. They all make mistakes, but it's kind of iron sharpens iron," Stover said. "We might rotate between them as the season goes along. We've got different options we can do this year and that's going to be great." — Offense

The offense hummed as last year went along. In the last seven games of the season, they reached 40 points five times.

But a major piece of that offense was Love (over 2,000 total yards and 26 touchdowns).

That leaves more responsibility for receivers like Quenderius Bolding (752 receiving yards, seven touchdowns). They're returning pieces like tight end A'Ryine Cooper (287 receiving yards and one touchdown), as well as running back Nyzae Gamble, who had 277 rushing yards and four touchdowns against Danville last year.

However, the Hornets will have to replace impactful offensive linemen like Nick Borden, Isaiah Mims and Hunter Motes, who graduated, — Defense

The statistical leader of the Hatton defense, Daniel Taylor Jr., returns for his senior season.

Last year, he led the Hornets with 107 tackles, 16 for loss, five sacks and three interceptions. He helped the Hornets keep a steady defense last season. Only two teams scored 30 on them: Deshler and Russellville.

He'll be joined by defensive lineman Pierce Wilson and Trenton Bailey, who combined for over 70 tackles last year.

Defensive back Wes Steadman (66 tackles), linebacker LJ Strong (65 tackles) and linebacker Burleson (64 tackles) will all make their returns. — Final word

"The buy-in has been even higher than last year, and we had a great buy-in last year," Stover said. "The weight room's been phenomenal, you see how the guys look. They're getting bigger, stronger, a lot faster, and we are very athletic. We're going to do some special things this season."

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