Waterloo, IN-The preseason gets you hyped up for a brand new season. Week 1 of the high school football season introduces you to the state’s stars  and heroes. 

At times tonight, the Angola Hornets looked sluggish, dare I say they were having first-game jitters. Yet despite a high scoring 21-21 tie at halftime, the Hornets responded in the 2nd half in a big way as the Hornets outscored DeKalb 21-7 in a 42-28 win. 

The Barons would get on the board first late in the first quarter thanks to quarterback Tegan Irk connecting with freshman running back Caiden Hinkle. The Hornets would respond early in the second when Tyler Call connected with senior Connor Tonkel. Angola would take their first lead of the game off of Finley Hasselman’s 2nd TD of the night (from 60 yards out) with 7:40 left in the second. Just 2 minutes and 39 seconds later, Irk connected with Mitch Snyder to tie it at 14. 

Late in the half, the Hornets would respond again after Finley Hasselman ran through a big hole and made a move on a DeKalb defender for his second touchdown of the game to take a 21-14 lead. With 47.1 seconds left, it looked like the Hornets would go into the half up by a touchdown. But off the kickoff, the Barons’ Nate Williams retrieved the ball, ran past a handful of Angola defenders, and took off for a 80+ yard touchdown to tie the game at 21 with 29.9 seconds left in the half. 

The second half, however, would prove to be a different story. Just 3 minutes and 2 seconds into the third quarter, Angola junior QB Tyler Call threw a 90-yard bomb to Micheal Burelison for his first varsity touchdown, which gave the Hornets the lead again 28-21. With 5:58 left in the quarter, the Hornets cushioned their lead when Finley Hasselman ran for 68 yards to make it 35-21 Angola. 

But time and time again, the Barons showed no quit to their game. Following a blocked punt in Angola territory, the Barons marched down the field, and Tegan Irk connected with wide receiver Donnie Wiley to make it a seven-point Angola lead with less than 2:30 left in the third quarter. Irk went 20-of-41 for 254 passing yards and three scores.

While the Barons defense contained Angola’s speedy and athletic talent, they were never able to get the game tying score. Late in the 4th quarter, a costly DeKalb fumble led to Wyatt Maggie’s recovering the fumble and setting up the final score of the game. Finley Hasselman’s fourth touchdown of the game prevented any kind of crazy DeKalb from happening tonight. Hasselman finished the game with 230 rushing yards.

The Hornets (1-0) will face the 4A state ranked Leo Lions (1-0) at the Hornets’ Nest. DeKalb (0-1) will travel to face their county rivals, Garrett (who defeated New Haven 21-18 in double overtime).