ADEL –– The Cook Hornets may still be winless on the season but that hasn’t stopped Jamie Rodgers’ team from competing hard every week. Rodgers doesn’t expect that to change following last Friday’s 28-18 loss to Thomasville.

“We come to practice, I’ve been very proud of that. We practiced really good Monday through Thursday for the last three or four weeks and I don’t see why that should change. Our biggest game of the year is next week,” Rodgers said.

The Hornets will hit the road on Friday to play rival and next-door neighbor Berrien. It’s the final tuneup for Cook before it begins Region 1-3A on Oct. 18 at Worth County. Though his team is 0-6, Rodgers believes it will be prepared once region play begins against the Rams.

Cook’s opener was against Class AAAA Westover, who are 4-1. On Sept. 13, Cook traveled to Thomas County Central and lost 26-6 to the Class 5A Yellow Jackets. Central is also 4-1.

“Westover’s got 1,400 students; TCC, 1,400 students. We made some adjustments after week two, week three. We were winning 20-0 here against Early (County) in the third quarter. We’ve been battle tested. We’ve played some really good football games and some good football teams,” Rodgers said. “It has prepared us for this. We’ve got to get some injuries healed up. We get a bye week after Berrien. We’ve got a couple of bye weeks out of the next four or five weeks. Hopefully, we get rested and play well.”

REMAINING SCHEDULE: Cook’s next two games are on the road at Berrien and then at Worth County. The Hornets will play at home the final two weeks, against Monroe on Oct. 25 and Crisp County on Nov. 1.

COOK OFFENSE: Cook’s offense had a productive outing against Thomasville last week. The Hornets ran for 163 yards and passed for 145. Quarterback Keyshawn Lucy combined for 207 total yards and threw a pair of touchdowns. The only disappointment was that Cook was held to a single touchdown through three quarters. Two fourth-quarter touchdowns pulled the Hornets to within 10 in the waning moments.