HALE CENTER — The Lockney Longhorns ran into an experienced Hale Center Owls football team on their final scrimmage of the pre-season. Hale Center utilized their upperclassmen-heavy roster of 18 seniors to outscore Lockney 3-1 at Owl Field on Thursday evening.
“Hale Center has a really good team that presented numerous problems for us. We executed well at times, and there were occasions we broke down in our schemes and assignments. We had some weaknesses exposed that will definitely need some attention. But, again our kids played hard and with intensity,” Lockney head coach Cory McCombs told the Floyd County Record.
“Backup quarterback senior Austin Rodriguez did a good job of filling in for injured senior Pablo Morales, still out with an ankle injury. Rodriguez threw a nice 50-yard touchdown pass to (junior) Jonathan Cienfuegos for our only score,” McCombs explained.
Morales, the starting quarterback the past three seasons, is in a boot and is still doubtful for the season opener at Ropes. It is a day-to-day situation for the experienced Longhorn play-maker.
Senior running back Nathan Cineceros had another good outing of rushing for approximately 60 yards for the Longhorns, according to McCombs. It is no secret that Cineceros will be a key workhorse for Lockney’s running game. McCombs again praised senior running back Elizar Alvarez for contributing to Lockney’s attack and giving the Horns a good 1-2 punch.
McCombs gave kudos to his two linebackers, junior Dax Poole and sophomore Ian Rodriguez, for their outstanding play and leadership on defense.
“We definitely need to work on our conditioning and clean up things on our execution. The effort of the players is there. We need to keep that up,” McCombs pointed out. Lockney runs a shotgun Wing T offensive formation with different looks and motion situations.
The Longhorns will now direct their attention to the Ropes Eagles and the 2021 season opener on the road Friday, August 27. The Floyd County Record will have a preview of Lockney at Ropes next week.
