#HSFT20 – Stop #54 Lafayette Commodores

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LAFAYETTE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) — The Lafayette Commodores enter 2020 looking to finally pluck the thorn that’s been in their side. The thorn being West Point. For the last two years, the Commodores season has come to an end by the hands of the Green Wave in some tough fought playoff battles including last season’s 21-14 defeat. Fast forward to now, Lafayette is hungry to hit the field and get over the hump.

“It comes down to a play one way or the other and for the last two years that other team has made that play,” head coach Michael Fair explained. “We don’t talk about it a lot to be honest with you. Our team I think is pretty level headed when it comes to that. Everybody wants to get to that next round. We feel like, more importantly, they feel like this is the team to do it. We’re excited about it for sure.”

“We’ve been preparing for that one round that we just can’t seem to get past,” junior quarterback Tyrus Williams said. “It’s that one team and working hard.”

“It’s just a matter of actually going out and doing it,” senior kicker Andrew Pugh said. “Having it in our head that we can do it.”

Working to make that goal happen this season will be a new crop of faces as Lafayette loses a lot of experience from last year’s team including last season’s quarterback and leading rusher Randy Anderson who accounted for over 2,000 all purpose yards. Fair is confident that his team can meet the challenge.

“To say we’re going to look different is an understatement,” Fair said. “I think we’re as skilled as we’ve been since I’ve been here. We got some speed on that side of the ball that I’m excited about. We’re going to look different, but I think we’ll score some points. That’s what it’s all about. We have guys in key spots that have experience coming back. We’ll be leaning on those guys early.”

Despite the turnover, expect the Commodores to continue playing their gritty, hard nose brand of football. A style of play you can expect from Lafayette year in and year out.

“Anytime you play the county, you can expect good defense and physical running of the football,” Fair explained. “That’s what Lafayette has been long before I got here. That’s just the blue collar mentality this place is. To be honest, we expect the same this year. We’re going to hold these guys to a really high standard. One we’ll push them everyday to meet and go from there.”

“We’re the county,” Pugh said. “It’s what we’re known as. We come from some hard working families. Kids that want to hit somebody when they get on the football field.”

Lafayette kicks off the season on the road against Horn Lake September 4th.