Football Game Preview: Azle Hornets vs. Birdville Hawks

The Azle Hornets are taking a road trip to take on the Birdville Hawks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Azle comes in still looking for their first win of the season.

Azle is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They came up short against Brewer on Friday, falling 63-42. While the Hornets didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Bears 21-14 in the first quarter.

Azle's defeat came about despite a quality game from Derrek Vowell, who threw for 232 yards and four touchdowns, and also punched in one rushing score.

Meanwhile, Birdville played a tough game on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They had to suffer through a 51-21 loss at the hands of Richland. The Hawks haven't had much luck with the Royals recently, as the team has come up short the last three times they've met.

Azle will need to focus on slowing down Zach Wells, one of several Birdville players who made an impact when they last played. He threw for 270 yards and one TD while completing 73.9% of his passes, and also punched in one score on the ground. A healthy portion of Wells' aerial production (145 yards to be exact) went to Quinton Giles.

Birdville now has a losing record of 2-3. As for Azle, their loss dropped their record down to 0-4.

Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's contest: Azle has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 471.5 total yards per game. It's a different story for Birdville, though, as they've been averaging only 247.2 total yards. Will Azle be able to march up the field at their leisure again, or will the Hawks flip the script?

Azle didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Birdville in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, but they still walked away with a 48-43 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Hornets since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.