The Hornets begin their second campaign under Head Coach Jake Chapman following a 6-4 season in 2014 and life without Derwin James, who is now off to Florida State and on the fast track to become the next player to be drafted from the school in the not-so-distant future. Haines City will face county rivals Winter Haven in their Spring contest on Friday Evening and here are a couple of questions that come to mind as the Hornets prepare to take the field.

Life does go on, right?
Absolutely. Just because a generational talent only comes every decade or so doesn’t mean that it’s time to pack up and cancel the season. Not by any means whatsoever. The Hornets have a tough district schedule in their new classification to say the least, but one they can navigate with expectations of being in a prime spot for the playoffs. Outside of Kissimmee Osceola and Gateway, they’ve faced county foes George Jenkins and Ridge and went 2-0 versus them last season.

So life goes on, who should we watch?
The Hornets return all three of their top rushers and their starting quarterback from last season. Xavier Smith, Stefano Sargusa and Josh Harrington all toted the rock well for Haines City and QB Ty Eaton produced over 1,000 yards from his position last season. On the defensive side, keep your eyes peeled for Willie Jones and Anphreney Collins. They’ll have to pick up the slack left by James and a host of other seniors that contributed heavily for them in 2014.

Can we get both, not just one?
Last season, the Hornets were seriously close to having a dream season. In their games versus Kathleen, Winter Haven and Lake Wales they gave up no more than 14 points. The problem was Haines City managed to score six points in two of those games and were shutout in the other. Just think, that could have easily been a 9-1 season for them and we could have been talking about something major happening. Hopefully the defense will catch up to the perceived in advancement of the offense, which could produce big things out in Northeast Polk County.