Fueled by a steak dinner and support from fans and alumni, the Mineral Springs Hornets opened their home football season with a 44-22 win over the Strong Bulldogs.
Local businesses and fans supplied the items for the meal, and alumni cooked it, and intentions are to continue the event through the football season.
Mineral Springs’ junior quarterback, Octavian Ceaser, had a banner night against Strong, completing 11 of his 14 passes for 233 yards and five touchdowns. He also had nine rushes for 43 yards as the Hornets won over their non-conference foe.
Hornet rushing yardage was spread around four running backs. Ricky Walker had nine carries for 52 yards and a touchdown; Camron Walker had four carries for 22; DeShawn Compton had four for 33; and Tajhi Beal had one carry for two yards.
Ceaser’s passes were shared by five receivers. Kavonte Esters caught four totaling 150 yards and two touchdowns. Fred Robinson was on the scoring end of two Ceaser passes. Raheem Brown also caught a TD pass. Others with receptions for yardage included Camron Walker and Ricky Walker.
The stingy Hornet defense was led by Ricky Walker with eight tackles, and Payton Haddan and Antonio Alexander, each with seven. Camron Walker had 6 tackles; Christian Hart had five, and Kavante Esters had four tackles and an interception which he returned for 50 yards.
Hornet coach Jason Burns said the team did a good job executing its game plan. “We wanted to take care of the ball and to tackle.” He said that an important point in the game was a third quarter goalline stand by the Hornet defense which may have sealed the win.
Mineral Springs led 24-14 at the half.
Mineral Springs finishes its non-conference scheduled Friday, visiting the Centerpoint Knights. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Coach Burns said that the class 3A Knights returned a veteran squad which won several games in the playoffs last year. “We’ll really have to mind our P’s and Q’s against them,” Coach Burns said.
