Sam Frick

Week 1 of the 2020 season was filled with many exciting moments and some upsets. That was no exception in Steuben County where the Angola Hornets defeated the DeKalb Barons 55-18. 

From opening kickoff, the Hornets dominated in many facets of the game. The offensive line was nothing short of spectacular as it created many holes for senior quarterback Tucker Hasselman, Finley Hasselman, Lincoln Schreiber, and Andre Tagliaferri to make game-changing plays. 

The Hornets recorded a sack on the very first play and recovered a fumble on the very next play. The Hornets would go on to score that TD, and would score another one in their next possession. From that point forward, the Hornets knew this was going to be their night. 

Tucker Hasselman ended up with 131 yards rushing on 27 carries and 2 TD’s, and he threw the ball for 149 yards and a couple TD passes. 

The debuts of sophomores Andre Tagliaferri, Jake Land, and Jack Archbold were very good ones who made impactful plays on both sides of the ball. Senior kicker Brandon Villafuerte was perfect from PAT’s and made two critical field goals from 28 yards and a career best 33 yards out. The key stat that decided the outcome of the game was the turnovers where the defense forced multiple DeKalb fumbles, and gave the Barons little opportunities to score all night. 

The Barons, outside of a 67-yard TD run by Tanner Jack and a decent performance out of quarterback Corey Price, struggled mightily to protect the football turning the ball over somewhere around 7-8 times (5 of those coming in the first half). While it’s too early to tell how good the Hornets can be in the down the road in conference and in sectionals, this is a very encouraging start for them. Next Friday, the Hornets will host a Leo team that defeated them twice in 2019, including in sectionals to end Angola’s season.