HSFT Stop #12: East Union Urchins

Blue Springs, Miss. (WCBI)- The Urchins are about to enter the second year under head coach Brandon Cherry. He commended their toughness and says East Union’s strong finish last season gives them momentum heading into this year.

“A lot of teams start 0-6 and drop 7-8 starters and that’s the end of the year. They finish 0-10 and roll over into next year. These guys didn’t,” Cherry said. “They found a way and some had to play both sides of the ball more than they wanted to and figured out how to win those last four games and get a second-round seed in the playoffs”.

The Urchins are set up well. They return nine starters on offense, and eight defensive starters from a season ago. Cherry says his team’s speed excites him.

“We will put guys out there that can handle the ball and really run. We have experience on the offensive line with some new starters but some guys who have played a lot of football,” Cherry said.

“A lot of people aren’t expecting a lot out of us but I think we can go far this year,” senior middle linebacker Garrett Adams said.

East Union has dealt with adversity off the field. On June 20th, assistant football coach Chris Lucius died after a battle with leukemia at 37 years old.

“We want to play every snap for him and make sure we know he is there with us the entire time,” Cherry said. “He loved our school and coaches more than anything in the world. He will be on our mind every snap and every second. It’ll be hard looking to my left not seeing him but I know he is there and he is in a much better place right now than we all are”.

The Urchins know they will make Lucius proud. Their season begins Friday, August 25th with a road battle against TCPS.