HSFT19 Stop #30 — Hatley Tigers

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HATLEY, Miss. (WCBI) —  It’s the season of tenacity for the Hatley Tigers.

“Be your absolute best. In whatever it is that you do,” head coach Ken Adams said. “Whether you’re in the weight room, on the field, in the court or the hallway, be your absolute best. If we can get them to do that everything else takes care of itself.”

That includes what happens on the gridiron. The Tigers return an experienced bunch from last season and have set the standard high right out of the gate.

“I think the bar is as high as we can set it,” senior TE/DE Tyler Hendrix said. “I think we can be all the way at the top and I think if we don’t do the right thing we’ll be all the way at the bottom, but we have to do the right thing.”

“I really want to win a lot more games than we have been in the last few years,” junior LB Dylan Denton said. “I think we have the talent this year to do it and we have a lot of potential going into this season.”

The potential has been nurtured over the course of the past two seasons by Coach Adams.

Before for the Tigers, the challenge was focused on coaching turnover. Now under Adams they know the drill and can focus on the game.

“The past three years with him has been great,” senior OL/DL Haigen McSpadden said. “He’s been out here pushing us to be our best every day.”

“He definitely drives us hard every day. Definitely has the right mindset for us and helps us to push through and be the best that we can be,” Hendrix said.

“It’s a big benefit because we know what to expect now instead of changing over and over every year. It’s a lot better than it has been,” Denton said.”

Something Adams has worked to instill in his team’s mind is the importance of practices day-in and day-out.

Adams: “Understanding what Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday is about. By the time you get to Friday you’ve either done it or you haven’t. If I can get our guys to understand that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday is more important than really honestly Friday because if you don’t prepare correctly it doesn’t matter what happens on Friday,” Adams said.

“We have to come back on Monday. Starting Monday through Thursdays walkthroughs and getting ready for the game. We have to do things right,” junior QB Markhel Hunt said.

A new season for the Tigers begins on August 23rd.