This story was written by Sports Editor Mark Buffalo. The photo, courtesy of Hazen High School, shows the team after beating England Friday night.

After a one-year absence from postseason play, the Hazen Hornets are headed back to play some extra football this season.

Hazen beat England 22-0 on Friday to clinch a spot in the Class 2A state playoffs after missing it a year ago. With the win, Hazen is now 7-2 overall and 4-2 in 2A-4 play under first-year coach Clay Totty.

“If we win Thursday, we’ll be the two seed,” Totty said, referring to their game at home against winless Hampton. “I think it’s a good one. We were picked to finish fifth. We didn’t have a lot of returning starters back. These kids have worked hard every day. A lot of them have stepped up and filled roles — multiple roles. I’m proud of them.”

Michael Stephens led Hazen with 66 yards rushing and two touchdowns on seven carries. Noah Adkins, who crossed the 1,000-yard rushing plateau, finished with 73 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Dalton Jones had 67 yards on 10 carries.

“It was a great defensive and team effort,” Totty said of the win over England. “We were down five starters. We’re relying on ninth graders. It was just a good team defensive effort for sure. Anytime you shut someone out in this day and age, you’ve got a lot of people doing their jobs. The secondary played well.”

Totty bragged on Shayne Guillioun, Jordan Kelly and Jamel Paris.

“They all made some big plays,” he said. “Shayne got an interception. We got good pressure on them. They did a good job on the run game.”