#HSFT21 Stop #56 – Saltillo Tigers

“Everybody wants to be better than last year, so you have to become one team,” senior athlete E.J. Fisk said. “Everyone has to do their job and come together as one. So do your job around here.”

After struggling for years, brighter days are ahead for Saltillo. The Tigers are on the chase for the program’s first winning season since 2014. Now, a culture shift doesn’t happen overnight, which is why the team has worked tirelessly.

“They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do,” head coach Ryan Summers said. “They’ve come in and worked hard. They’ve been fun to be around. They pick each other up. There aren’t cancerous things going on. A lot of fun times.”

“Everybody got to be on point for when the season comes,” Fisk said. “So Friday night, everyone has to be on point. They’ve been hard on us to go 100%. No skipping. None of that.”

Rightly so. In close games, the Tigers fell short, losing 12 -8 against Booneville and 16-15 in overtime against New Hope. The goal this season is to close out those nail-bitters with a win.

“We feel like we’re up there with them,” senior linebacker Logan Jones said. “We just need to put in the right work. We’re not far off at all. If we do the right things, we’ll have more wins this year.”

“It helps us improve and just fight harder that last ten seconds of the game or that last drive of the game to help us play harder so we can get that last touchdown,” senior linebacker Carter Finch said. “That last stop on defense.”

To add fuel to the fire, the Tigers don’t have much size. However, the team is just using that for motivation on the gridiron.

“We’ll be undersized against most people we play in our division,” Summers explained. “We have to play with that chip on our shoulder. Play with reckless abandon and have a lot of fun while we’re doing it.”

“We have better athletes with better mindset,” Fisk said. “We work harder than everybody. We’re one team. All together. All in.”

Leading the team is the senior class featuring fourteen players who have battled through the lows at Saltillo. Several other athletic programs at the school have had success, so now the guys on the football team take this season as their chance to join the mix.

“Every sport here has gone to state every year and the playoffs, so if we can finally do something, I know it would mean a lot to them,” Jones explained. “It would definitely change Saltillo for a while.

Saltillo kicks off the season at Corinth on August 27th.