Lorenzo Hornets: 2018 Preseason

By Bobbie Brown
 
I arrived in Lorenzo a little after 4:00 this afternoon. It was a balmy 94 degrees, and the West Texas sun was steadily beating down with a little blow-dryer like wind to go along with it. The Lorenzo Hornets were hard at work doing conditioning drills. I am pretty sure I know what good conditioning looks like, but what I watched today was above and beyond. I was tired just watching it. But the Hornets took it all in stride! Here is what I watched each Hornet complete:

1. Carry a PVC pipe with water held inside by two caps on the ends above head, running for 40 yards.
2. Climb into the strap and run with a tire following you across the width of the football field.
3. Grab a large wooden post wrapped in padding and carry it in front of you for 40 yards (sometimes running).
4. Runs through the tires.
5. Run halfway across the field and run through the ropes.
6. Bear crawl the other half of the field.
7. Reach the sideline where you started and do up/downs.
8. Go back the way you came and do it all in reverse order.

(you can see these things in the pictures on Texas 1A Fan Facebook)

The Lorenzo Hornets will be in beast mode shape if they do that obstacle course often enough. I was thoroughly impressed with their conditioning! Watch out Region 1, District 2! By the time they get to District play, they may be able to run and carry everyone off the field.
 
I went in search of and was happy to meet Coach Freddie Tobias. He hails from Lubbock and is in his first year coaching Sixman. He was a very personable guy with an easy smile and motivational words for his players. I also met Coach Burgess. He is the boys’ basketball coach and assists Tobias with football. They both had practice humming along once the obstacle course was finished. Although they had been through the gamut at the beginning of practice, they all worked hard on pivots, blocking, foot work, and more running.
 
The Hornets return Max De Hoyos to the lineup. He earned All-Region honors at safety last year. There are 17 other players joining Max including Coach Burgess’ son. They will have a  tough district against Happy, Hart, Nazareth, and Petersburg, but I look for the Hornets to be competitive.