HSFT stop #53: Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- Not many teams can say they won the last game of the season. The Louisville Wildcats can.

Head coach Tyrone Shorter’s club defeated Poplarville 15-14 in the 2020 4A state championship game in Jackson.

“It’s always good to win a state championship. It’s hard to do so you have to cherish the opportunity whenever you get a chance to win one,” Shorter said.

Heading into this year, Louisville won’t have a lot of core pieces from 2020’s defense.

“We lost some good ones. It will be hard to replace those guys. Ty Cooper at Mississippi State, Jamarcus Eiland at Jones. It’s gonna be hard to replace those guys but it’s high school football. Guys leave and others need to step up,” Shorter said.

Shorter has been impressed with his team’s offense this summer, they have eight starters returning on that side of the ball.

“Our receiving corps and running back corps is all back. We feel great about our offense. Our problem will be defensively because we’re so young. It’ll be a challenge for us but we will get there,” Shorter said.

Senior linebacker Shontez Thames is ready to get the defense back on track and evolve as a leader.

“I’ve been working with the younger guys who didn’t play last year, our linebackers and our secondary,” Thames said.

“Our offense has been pretty good and our defense has been pretty good. This year should be a great success for us,” senior offensive lineman La Norris Hickman said.

Shorter knows the dedication it takes to bring home the hardware and he appreciates his players’ efforts throughout the offseason.

“I can’t ask for anything else from these young men,” Shorter said. “The summer and spring was really good. We had over 95 kids out for football, all 9th-12th graders and it has been going good.”

The Wildcats host West Point in their opener August 27th at 7 o’clock.