#HSFT16: Stop No. 45 – Houston Hilltoppers

HOUSTON, Miss. (WCBI) — It’s a new era and new beginning at Houston.

The Hilltoppers were left in great hands by former head coach Billy Cook, who handed down the reigns to assistant Ty Hardin. The Houston High graduate takes over a team that he loves and the love has been instilled with his players.

“I love him,” senior Johnta Walker said. “I’ve loved coach Hardin since middle school. He’s been my favorite coach and he has a special spot with me.”

“He’s like one of our brothers,” senior James Thompson said. “Whenever we have a situation, we can call or text him and he will be there for us.”

“This last July they officially bought in,” coach Hardin said. “They’re willing to do any and every thing to win.”

After five consecutive years in the playoffs, Houston has quickly become a year in and year out postseason contender.

But it’s making a deep run in the playoffs that hasn’t been consistent. The Toppers hope that they will continue the victories in the postseason & go beyond where they’ve been in the past.

In years past, Houston teams that have a great year will follow up with a mediocre or bad year,” Hardin said. “Our goal for this team is we won’t be that team. We will be the team that keeps raising the bar every year.”

“We don’t want to go back to a bad season,” senior Tanner Bullock said. “We want to have a better season. Last year we got a taste of how far we can make it. This year, we want to go back that far and even farther.”

“We have to do it mentally,” senior Taylor Baskin said. “We have physical toughness and a lot of starters back. We’re going to get with it.”

And the X-factor at Houston isn’t a player or a statistic. It’s a special trait that Coach Hardin hopes will be what takes the Hilltoppers over the top and on to bigger and better things in 2016.

“I call it the Houston trait,” coach Hardin said. “We live in a blue collar town. We don’t have the best facilities or things. No matter who we play, they want to beat them and beat them bad.”

“We have to get everyone on the same page,” senior Jalon Gates said. “We can’t be individuals. Everybody has to be on the same page.”

“We are all one. We’re a team that are bonded together,” Thompson said. “On that field we work hard together. We push each other and motivate each other to work harder.”

“We come up here every morning and give our all,” Walker said. “All the negativity that people put us down as, we take that down and put that on the field.”