HSFT22 Stop #14 — Itawamba Indians

The Itawamba Indians lost just one game before the postseason last year. Then, they got bit by the injury bug.

Six guys in skill positions went down in a week before their third round playoff matchup with Senatobia. The Indians fell 46-6 to the Warriors.

“It just didn’t end the way we wanted to,” Itawamba head coach Clint Hoots said. “We feel like we had some things left out there that we could have accomplished.”

When Hoots’ kids came back after winter break, they were hungry to get to work.

“I didn’t get to play the last game,” senior left guard Ethan Morgan said. He was one the six injured. “It was pretty tough, but it made me more hungry to fight harder this year.”

Ethan is just one of 22 seniors returning to play their final season at Itawamba — which also includes his twin brother Andrew.

“We’ve had a lot of experience together growing up from little boys from Pee Wee to seniors in high school now,” Andrew said.

Hoots said this is as close of a group as he’s ever had in the locker room. That’s because they’re always together off the field — whether that’s fishing together or going to each at Mexican restaurants together.

“They’re an extremely close-knit group,” Hoots said. “They have a lot of fun together. You’ll see them doing little things together.”

The last thing this group of seniors has to check off before they head their separate ways is win state together.

“You grow up dreaming about it and trying to win a state championship your senior year,” senior quarterback Ty Davis said.

The pathway to get to state is marked by hard work. That’s what Hoots prides his program on.

Since he got there in 2007, he said hard work has always been a staple each and every year since.

“They’re gonna play as hard as they can for as long as they can — every Friday night. And they’re gonna work hard in between,” Hoots said.

The Indians will kick off their season when they play host to the Amory Panthers on August 26.