#HSFT18: Stop No. 4 – Nanih Waiya
| CLASS 1A | REGION 3 |
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| HEAD COACH: James Courtney |
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| Aug 17 | Hatley | Home |
| Aug 24 | Union | Away |
| Aug 31 | Winona | Away |
| Sept 7 | Hamilton* | Away |
| Sept 14 | Sebastopol* | Home |
| Sept 21 | French Camp* | Away |
| Sept 28 | Leake County* | Home |
| Oct 7 | West Lowndes* | Away |
| Oct 12 | Vardaman* | Home |
| Oct 19 | Ethel* | Home |
| Oct 26 | Smithville* | Home |
| Nov 1 | Noxapater* | Away |
| *District games | ||
NANIH WAIYA, Miss. (WCBI) — A new head coach takes over for the Nanih Waiya warriors football team.
Former defensive coordinator James Courtney replaces former coach Ryan Keeton who left for Tupelo.
“Coach Keeton is a great coach,” said head coach James Courtney. “He and I are friends, and we worked together before, and he brought me down to Nanih Waiya. The program that he’s built is one that didn’t need a lot of fixing. It was a no brainer for me to be interesting in the job.”
Courtney spent one year under Keeton’s staff, and the team has adapted to him really well taking over as the new guy in charge.
“I love him,” said senior lineman Kyle Holdiness. “I love how he fires us up before the game. He’s just a great coach.”
“He’s taught me a lot on the defensive side of the ball, and on the offense as well,” adds senior teammate Caleb Warren.
Nanih Waiya brings back six defensive starters and five offensive starters, but two big key role players they have to replace is the thunder and lighting duo of Chris Smith and Taemaus Glass.
“It’s very difficult to replace guys like Chris and Taemaus,” Courtney said. “But now we got some really good young backs that are eager to prove what they can do and put their stamp on our program as well, so we are excited about those guys.”
“It’s hard to replace guys like that,” Holdiness said. “It’s going to be on us up front to carry the slack, and get these young guys some reps.”
The Warriors came up one game short from winning the 1a state title game last fall, but the team says they’re confident they can get back.
“We are going to use it as motivation,” Holdiness said. “We push each other in the weight room when we are running sprints, or walking around. We just try to do the best we can.”
“It’s about hard work with our guys,” Courtney adds. “Working in the weight room. They have done an extremely good job. So far we’ve had a good spring, and we are going to build off our offensive line.
Nanih Waiya opens their season at home on August 17th against Hatley.
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