HSFT Stop #54: New Hope

Columbus, Miss. (WCBI)- The Trojans had 35 seniors in 2022. This year, they have only six.

Last year’s crew went 4-6 and head coach Seth Stillman is excited to see the young players play a bigger role.

“We’ll be young in a lot of spots and have a lot of new faces but they’ve done a good job rising to the occasion and stepping into some really important roles for us so hopefully we have something special in store,” Stillman said.

“We’ve been basically building our team chemistry and now more people want to be better at the game,” senior receiver Komarion Rice said.

“We’ve got a ton of young guys who want to win and see success in the school. We’ve got it,” senior defensive lineman Mikias Cuthbertson said.

Stillman is excited about the back end of his defense and says there’s a quarterback competition between Matthew Benge and Juice Tate. Stillman had a lot of success as a New Hope player and helped lead the Trojans on deep playoff runs. He says in order for this group to be successful, they need to know it’s not impossible.

“New Hope is known as more of a baseball school, soccer has been really productive, softball has been really really good, volleyball and basketball play for state usually. Everyone seems to be doing those things except for us. What our guys need to understand is I’m not lying to them. They can be as successful as any program on campus or any football program in the state, they just have to believe it. I think we’re much closer to believing that than we’ve ever been.”

The Trojans’ season gets started next Friday at Itawamba.