#HSFT16: Stop No. 52 – Bruce Trojans

BRUCE, Miss. (WCBI) — Ken Chandler is stepping in at Bruce High School after James Ray’s departure.

He’s coached for more than a decade in Winona, taking over a group that doesn’t make the playoffs a year ago.

“It’s been really good,” he said. “There’s a lot of tradition here.”

It’s a team that loses a lot of starters from a year ago. The Trojans said it’s a chance to move forward.

“They had a bitter taste in their mouths after last season,” Chandler said. “When you have rivals there, Calhoun City, we have to renew that rivalry.”

“We’ve played teams we haven’t beaten in a while, especially Calhoun City,” senior Paul Tutor said. “We have a goal to beat them this year.”

Junior Cade Spratlin is one of the guys competing for the starting quarterback spot.

“I use last year as a motivation for this year, just to not have that feeling again,” he said. “We want to make it deep this year and I feel we have the team to do that.”

The Trojans said that history around Bruce will add to the sense of urgency. Last year broke a streak of 12-straight years that the Trojans have reached the postseason.

“The community is so hungry for success, and they’ve had success. The community is starving for success and to get back to Bruce football,” Chandler said.

“Bruce has always been a powerhouse in football but the last couple years we’ve struggled,” Spratlin said. ” This is a football town and we want to get our football team back to where it was.”

Chandler said he’s moving from a spread to a power offense and that the guys have embraced the change so far.