While most of the state’s public schools kick off their 2005football seasons Friday night, the West Lincoln Bears and the LoydStar Hornets get a jump on the rest when they meet at William E.”Sambo” Smith Field Thursday night. Kickoff is 7 p.m. on the LoydStar campus.

“We have concentrated on eliminating mental mistakes,” said WestLincoln head coach Brooks Burns. “We have to eliminate themistakes. We are really young and inexperienced.

“We have just five seniors,” continued Burns. “They have reallystepped up and taken a leadership role.”

Directing the Bear offense is junior Kevin Lofton (180) atquarterback. In the backfield are senior Aaron McCaffery (150) atfullback and sophomore Darnell Sampson (170) at tailback. SeniorDexter Hutson (130) is starting at wingback. At split end is juniorLee Jones (140).

Working on the Bear offensive line is freshman Joseph Howard(200) at center, sophomore Adam McCaffery (180) at right guard,senior Patrick Smith (190) at right tackle, senior Alton Hart (140)at left guard. sophomore Daniel Fauver (240) at left tackle andsophomore Witt May (150) at tight end.

The West Lincoln defensive line includes Fauver at nose guard,Smith at left tackle, freshman Cole Wallace (210) at right tackle,Lofton at strong side defensive end, and Hart at weak sidedefensive end. Starting at linebacker are Sampson and AaronMcCaffery. Junior Jones and Hutson play cornerback. The safetiesare freshman Brett Rushing (120) and freshman James Magee(130).

“I have heard Loyd Star is a lot faster than us,” said Burns.”Michael Britt is a workhorse. He is a real good footballplayer.”

Britt is a standout senior linebacker and fullback

Friday night’s starting lineup includes a lot of young faces forthe Bears.

“About half of our roster are freshmen,” added Burns. “Our mainconcern is to keep everybody healthy. We want to compete as best wecame. I look for our kids to play hard and play well. The wins andloses take care of themselves. There’s places we can havesuccess.”

Loyd Star Starters

Players’ weights were unavailable for Loyd Star. Starting forLoyd Star on offense are quarterbacks Jarod Rogers andTyler Williford. At wingback is Gary Johnson, Randy Fells, MichaelBritt and Donald Shorter.

Hunter Speeg gets the start at fullback. Starting attight end are Patrick Holcomb and Britt.

Working at tackle are Jared Reid and Nick Smith. Atguard are Gaden Smith and Justin Warren. Nathan Shroder starts atcenter.

Defensively, the tackles are Reid and Kenneth Johnson.Dustin Brewer and Brandon Warren are working at end.

Starting at middle linebacker is Speeg. At strong sidelinebacker is Britt. The weakside linebacker is Gary Johnson.Cornerbacks are Fells and Holcomb. Strong safety is Shorter and thefree safety is Williford.

Extra points and field goals will be handled by Holcomb.The punter is Rogers. The long snapper is RyanWallace.

“We plan to key on the Sampson kid,” said Loyd Starrookie head coach Josh Thibodeaux. “He’s their best running back.West Lincoln lost several kids on the line on offense and defense.They have about 26 kids out and 13 of them arefreshmen.

“We can’t overlook them, that’s for sure,” saidThibodeaux.

The Hornets are also ready to get their seasonunderway.

“Our kids are excited about this new season,” addedThibodeaux. “We are ready to get started.”

Last year the Hornets whipped West Lincoln 41-7 in theseason opener.