Athens prepares to welcome Brownsboro to open football season

Hannigan's Notebook

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Athens prepares to welcome Brownsboro to open football season

Aug 26, 2020

(Photo: Coach Zac Harrell.)

Note: This interview was recorded in the Athens ISD Fieldhouse Wednesday, Aug. 26.

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The Story

The Athens Hornets will play host to Brownsboro Friday night at Bruce Field to open the 2020 football season.

The Bears will be coming to town looking for revenge after the Hornets went down Highway 31 last year to get Zac Harrell his first win as Athens head coach.

The Hornets know they are opening the season with a challenge.

“Coach Pearson does a great job of having his team prepared and playing really hard,” Harrell said.

Coach Harrell and I looked at the Brownsboro offense and defense, as well as discussing the Hornets’ special teams, in this week’s podcast. Listen to the interview above and find the timestamps for specific topics below.

Because of COVID, Bruce Field will only be allowed to have 50 percent capacity. Tickets are on sale now online here.

Podcast Topics (Quotes by Coach Zac Harrell)

Coach Harrell’s thoughts on the rivalry. (1:12)

“A lot of these kids are friends, a lot of them played pee wee football together. … Both are very classy, respectful programs.”

Brownsboro looking for revenge from last year? (2:38)

“It is going to be a great challenge for us, because it is on their mind that we beat them last year.”

The unknown of the first game. (3:30)

“Both teams are going to have a lot of kids play Friday night that it’s their first time to ever play in a Friday night football game. And how are those kids going to respond to that?”

Brownsboro offensively. (5:04)

“They’re going to pound you, pound you, pound you and then they are going to try and catch you sleeping.”

Brownsboro defense. (8:50)

“They are going to play mostly man-to-man defense with one free safety. …. They try to get as many run players into the box as they can and they do a good job of doing it.”

Athens running game and offensive line. (12:30)

“Both (Nate Sims and Jecorey Roberts) were great backs for us last year. We’ve got to get both those guys involved early and often.”

Special teams (15:41)

“We’re excited about that unit. Coach Rives is our special teams coordinator and has really taken the reins of that this year and he put a lot of thought into it and a lot of brainstorming in the offseason.”