#HSFT18: Stop No. 9 – Okolona Chieftains

OKOLONA, Miss. (WCBI) — Okolona Chieftains look to win the district title for a second straight season.

“We had a very good first year,” said head coach LaMart Harvey. “We got some guys back. We lost fourteen seniors. We are going to miss those guys, but we got a young group coming up, and I think that once again we can be competitive in 1a.”

The Okolona Chieftains football team are coming off a great season in 2017.

The Chieftains won the division in Region 1-1a, and made it all the way to the 1a North Half Finals before losing to the 1a state champs Simmons.

The focus now for Okolona is building off last season’s success.

“We got to have more leadership, said senior lineman Colbry Lathan Jr. “Last year we had great leaders, and this year we got to be better.”

“I think we got a chance,” Harvey said. “Injuries always play a part in 1a of course. We got a tough schedule. A non division schedule with three non division games before we get into division, but I think we match up well the teams in Region 1-1a.”

Three offensive and six defensive starters return for Okolona.

The Chieftains are also led seven seniors, and coach Harvey feels that they are hungry to make another run deep into post season play and play for a state championship.

“We have three of them that played on the state championship basketball team,” Harvey said.  “That was a great feeling for us to go down there and win that in basketball. We are going to try and shoot for that in football because that was a great feeling for those guys. They really enjoyed that.”

Okolona opens their season on the road August 17th at JZ George.