HSFT Stop #32: Itawamba Indians

FULTON, Miss. (WCBI)- Itawamba has become a household name in 4A football. The Indians are a staple in the playoffs and that success starts in the summer.

“It never stops, we’ve gotten to where football is a year-round thing,” head coach Clint Hoots said. “We are constantly working on different phases of it. Our guys are getting excited, there is a different mindset when they come in, there is a different excitement around the air and around the community. This time of year people in the South get ready for football to start.”

The Indians went undefeated in the regular season last year. Going 12-0 entering the third round of the playoffs before getting knocked off by Houston 26-22. The memory of how last season ended is driving this year’s team.

“I look back and there are some things in that game that I could have done better,” senior wide receiver Brayden Steele said. “It could’ve made the outcome of that game different so I use that every day to come in and work hard to try not to let that happen again.”

The team can’t just forget about the third-round loss but they are trying to move forward.

“You’re always going to remember it but it’s best to keep moving forward but remembering it always sets a goal for us,” Isaiah Rashad Autrey said.

The tradition that has been built at Itawamba is strong. The Indians aren’t just happy with making the playoffs, they have state championship aspirations each year. Itawamba hasn’t won a state title yet but the team feels like it is on the verge of something special.

“We expect to be in the third round, we expect to be in the North half and we expect every year to contend to be one of the top 4A teams in the state,” Hoots said. “That’s what our expectations are. We just haven’t had our chance yet but we are working to that goal.”

It would be easy for the Indians to get complacent after so many successful seasons but they are still a hard-nosed team that doesn’t shy away from the work.”

“I feel like we got a lot of fight in us, we got a lot of dog in us,” senior running back Jabari Shumpert said. “We never quit, we never back down for nothing.”

Itawamba kicks off its season August 25th against New Hope.