CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Flour Bluff fans are anxiously waiting to fill up the stands for game day. The Hornets are ranked No. 25 in Dave Campbell's UIL 5A-DI's preseason poll. While they don't have a lot of returning varsity starters, they do have a lot of guys coming back that got playing experience.
"They've been working their tails off," said Flour Bluff football head coach Clynton Elwood. "Like I said, just because you started last year don't mean you are this year. Sam has got to work too. You know, just because he started last year. The o-line and d-line have been thumping since the spring, so there's a bunch of battles going on right now for those positions."
The Hornets return four varsity starters on offense, bringing back senior running back Sam Smith who recently announced his commitment to play college football at Air Force. Last year he rushed for 1,137 yards, scoring 24 touchdowns through 12 games. He'll help the new quarterbacks that are battling for the starting role get comfortable.
"Yeah I mean I think all of them are very vocal," Smith said. "They're all very good guys. I mean I really have a good relationship with all of them. I just think they're all great people and they all have great work ethic."
Flour Bluff's defense returns three starters, with their veteran experience mostly in the secondary like district preseason defensive MVP Raymond Aguilar.
"With Ray Aguilar and (Landon) Meschi back there we've got some guys that have been in the system for a while," Elwood said. "So they're leadership is working really, really well. Helping coach up the younger kids along with us."
"I like that they don't give up no matter how hard it gets and we definitely get 11 hats to the ball," Aguilar said.
The Hornets new District 15 in 5A-DI includes Veterans Memorial, Carroll and four Valley teams. Flour Bluff has a tough non-district schedule that's going to help prepare them for district and hopefully playoffs.
"Yeah I mean I plan on us coming out strong," Smith said. "We're going to come out hot and we're going to come out guns blazing, so I'm just really excited."
Flour Bluff kicks off the season for our Game of the Week against the Miller Buccaneers on Friday, Aug. 28 at 7:30 p.m. at Hornet Stadium.
