2014 High School Football Tour: North Pontotoc

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ECRU, Miss. (WCBI) — History was made last season at North Pontotoc.

The Vikings won the division title for the first time since 1986 and also won 10 games for the first time in school history.

Those numbers though are also a part of history now, as coach Brian Sutton and the V-Men aren’t looking back on what happened in 2013.

“We’re not going to live off the past anymore,” coach Sutton said. “We had a great season last year but we can’t live off that. We have to make our own legacy now.”

The question now must be asked: What is next for North Pontotoc?

The Vikings lose an immense amount of talent from last year’s squad with the departure of quarterback Trey Jolly and x-factor speedster Marcus Green. But losing all of that is motivation for a program that has come quite a long way since the turn of the century.

“I think we’ll surprise a bunch of people this year,” senior Storm Moore said. “I expect the same as last year if not further. I think we can make it further if we put forth the effort.”

“I really feel like people are underestimating us,” senior Greg Gambrel said. “We lost a lot of what we had, but if we work hard we’re going to be great.”

“We did lose some guys,” senior Brooks Shannon said. “But it is what it is. We have some guys that are going to make it happen this year.”

For 2014, North will start their nose guard from last season at quarterback. Yes, you read that correctly.

Caleb Nelson will take over for Trey Jolly and that’s a strength of this year’s team along with a senior class that boasts star talent such as Greg Gambrel and Brooks Shannon out wide.

“I definitely think we can go as far as we did last year,” Nelson said. “I think we have some key factors back and we’re going to win a bunch of games.”

“We have some seniors coming back that got a taste of it last year,” Sutton said. “They know what it feels like to win and those guys will have to step up and lead these other guys out.”

North Pontotoc has a difficult early run of games to begin the season as they host Bruce in week 1 before traveling to Ripley, Choctaw County and South Pontotoc in successive weeks.