Three players have really shown their skills in the past games. These players are the two 100-yard rushers sophomore Evander Wilkins and freshman Jake Croxdale along with the 100-yard receiver senior Tony Washington.

For Washington, the game against the Southern Oregon Raiders on Sept. 13 was his second consecutive game of catching for over 100 yards. But he said that he doesn’t pay attention to record breaking and doesn’t even know about his stats until after the game. The game against the Raiders was the first game he didn’t score a touchdown in, but made up for it in Saturday’s game against the Weber State Wildcats. His goal for Saturday’s game wasn’t about the yards, but getting into the end zone, which he followed through with.

“It would be nice to keep getting these 100 (yard) games, but I want to try to score,” said Washington about the game against the Raiders.

Washington leads the team with 23 receptions for 425 yards and three touchdowns so far. Before the game against the Wildcats, he was ranked second in the Big Sky for his 114.7 yards per game and tied for ninth in the Football Championship Subdivision. Wilkins was ranked 20th in the FCS for 105.67 rushes per game before Saturday’s game as well. But, he doesn’t see the record as anything to cheer about if it doesn’t give the team a victory.

“The record don’t mean nothing if we don’t have a win,” said Wilkins.

Wilkins and Croxdale each ran for eight first downs out of the 27 made in the whole game against the Raiders. That was Wilkins’ second game record for over 100 yards and Croxdale’s first. Against the Wildcats, Wilkins ran for five of the 19 first downs made by the Hornets and Croxdale scored a touchdown in the third quarter.

Croxdale gives the linemen most of the credit for his yards because they helped make a path for him.

“I just carry the ball. The linemen take care of all the dirty business,” Croxdale said.

To get ready for the next game against the Portland State Vikings on Sept. 27, Head Coach Marshall Sperbeck explained that the team prepares the same way each week no matter how hard or easy the opponents will be that weekend.

Croxdale said that the team is getting so much flack from people not believing in the team that it has to work extra hard to prove itself.

“It’s like we’re playing with a chip on our shoulder with everything they’re saying about us and we’re out to prove them wrong,” Croxdale said.

Croxdale said the best way to prove that the Hornets are the top team to beat is to show off its skills in the Big Sky conference games, especially the homecoming game against Portland State.

“We’ll send a message (to our opponents) showing that we’re here to play,” Croxdale said.

At the first home game for the Hornets, Croxdale had a group of fans that were yelling at the coach to put him in the game. He got his chance in the fourth quarter.

“It was nice to have support because I’m from Napa and it’s cool to hear them in the stands,” said Croxdale.

As of Sept. 13, this team has averaged about 214 rushing yards per game. The Hornets average 30 points per game compared to its opponent’s total average of 17 points.

The coach did predict that out of the injured players that were benched in the game against the Raiders, defensive ends freshman Zack Nash and junior Ryan Shinar did get to see some playing time against the Wildcats. Running back sophomore Bryan Hilliard was supposed to play, but is still on the injured list. But, sophomore quarterback Jason Smith was still undecided before playing against Weber State and wore a brace on his right foot at practice last week. He was not suited up for the game and is still recovering from a sprained ankle.

The Hornets played its hardest against Weber State on Saturday, but couldn’t manage to pull off a win for the first time at home and ended the game 27 to 32. Sophomore quarterback Mcleod Bethel-Thompson was injured in the beginning of the fourth quarter and was out for the rest of the game with a left knee injury. Third string sophomore quarterback Duncan White came in and made his first career touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Dylan Lane. With both first and second string quarterbacks out, White will get more practice time this week to prepare for the Vikings on Saturday.

Taylor Collis can be reached at [email protected]