#HSFT19 Stop #55 — Oxford Chargers

OXFORD, Miss (WCBI) — The 2018 Oxford Chargers proved that young doesn’t mean not competitive.

“I thought we had a good group of seniors last year,” Oxford head coach Chris Cutcliffe said. “It was a very small group. Probably the smallest–really is the smallest I had ever been around in Oxford. Some really strong leaders in that group that I thought did a really nice job and some talented young players that stepped up and played really well.”

The Chargers got off to rough start with two losses in the first two weeks, but quickly turned it around to win six straight, finish the season 9-4 with a playoff berth.

“One of the things we try to stress to our guys is that we really believe in what we do. We believe in our program and we believe in our players and approaches. Win or lose that doesn’t change. When things are going great you can’t get complacent,” Cutcliffe said.

Of course, as the team has grown the expectation has grown as well and the Chargers are willing to put in whatever work is necessary to get over the first round playoff hump.

“We were more ready for it, 6A, because this is our second year. Our first year we were ready I just think we didn’t know what was coming,” senior TE Jeremiah Pegues said.

“I think we didn’t know exactly what to expect,” senior QB John Meagher said. “We had never been there before. I think we realize we worked hard last year but you can’t just work hard you have to outwork everybody especially in 6A.”

It’s always a bright spot when you have your starting Q-B returning as well as a 4-star Tight End. Jeremiah Pegues is turning heads at the D1 level and standing at 6’2” and 280 pounds is known also known for being an unstoppable offensive force.

“He’s incredible. He does things that you would see on NCAA Football our Madden Football. You couldn’t think could be done on a field,” Meagher said.

“Guys like JJ that walk the walk. You have the chance to have something special when your best players are your hardest workers,” Cutcliffe said.

Pegues and his fellow teammates recognize that they have all the components for Oxford to go all the way.

“I feel like we can go to the chamionship this year. We have a lot of people on defense with experience and with the offense you know, you gotta score,” Pegues said.

Oxford will be challenged early with an opening match-up to Northwest Rankin at home on August 23rd.