#HSFT18 Stop No. 45 — New Hope Trojans

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) — A championship pedigree has arrived in New Hope.

Former Hollandale Simmons head coach Wade Tackett takes over as the man in charge of the Trojans.

Tackett led the Blue Devils to a perfect 15-0 record in 2017, winning the school’s third-straight state title.

Tackett hopes to bring a winning tradition to his new home.

“From the outside looking in, it looked like a job where the community has bought in, the administration has bought in, the school itself has bought in. It was just very appealing aesthetically from the outside looking in,” Tackett said.

“Coach Tackett is a winner…”, junior offensive lineman Brantley Prescott said, “…it does bring a lot of excitement, but we know we have to do our thing too.”

The 2017 season ended in a wash for the Trojans.

On a dreary November night full of heavy rain and thunderstorms, Pontotoc put an end to New Hope’s season in a defensive slugfest, 6-3.

“We still have that sour taste in our mouth, after going up to Pontotoc and losing,” senior linebacker Kobe Matthews said, “but now, we know what it takes to keep going, to go deep into the playoffs, so I think the experience is going to help us a lot.”

The Trojans will be young, only eight seniors return in 2018, but Tackett and the team believe there’s plenty of talent to make a push in 4A.

“Year one, I want our guys to be competitive. I want us to feel like we’re in every single game. I want to win every single game,” Tackett said.

” I want to make sure these guys are displaying the right attitude and character on the field on Friday nights, because that’s who they are. They’re good character guys with great attitudes, and if they stick with the process, the winning is going to come.”

“This year, we’ve got a lot of young talent that’s pretty good,” junior quarterback and safety De’Ajon Miller said.

“We have a great chance to make it farther than we did last year.”

New Hope kicks off its season at home against Forest.