#HSFT17: Stop No. 48 — Mooreville Troopers

MOOREVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — For the third time in as many seasons, the Mooreville Troopers have a new head coach.

Jimmy Young will lead the Troopers in 2017, and aftering spending five years as an assistant coach, the Mooreville-made man lands his best opportunity yet.

“This has always been a dream job for me,” Young said, “This is home for me, this is…what molded me into the man I am today. The people, the teachers, the community, and this is something I always wanted to do. I wanted to give back to the community that molded me into who I was.

“I’m just so honored and humbled to be the head coach here at Mooreville.”

“Something is really different about coach Young,” senior quarterback Mitchell Tharp said.

“He’s just a really, really hard worker and he tries to instill that in us and he really brings the best out of everybody”

“He’s just like a father to some of us,” senior running back Andrew Peugh said.

“He’s a Mooreville guy. He’s really down to earth. He’s the guy you want, and he’s in charge now so it’s his show and we’re going to play it for him.”

Young looks to lead the Troopers as they jump from Class 3A to 4A in 2017, in a highly contested region two that includes Pontotoc, Amory, and Shannon.

“It is going to be a tough challenge but I’ve got kids that are up for the challenge,” Young said, “They don’t even think twice about it.

“They’re ready to play some of the boys across the river in Fulton and play Pontotoc…to prove a point. That’s just their mentality. We’ve always has a chip on our shoulder out here in Mooreville, and always wanting to prove a point.”

That chip on their shoulder may be bigger than in years past.

Battle tested guys like returning starting quarterback Tharp and leading rusher Peugh will lead a more experienced group of Troopers that are ready to prove the doubters wrong.

“We want to show people that we’re here to make a statement, and that we’re here to play for real,” junior offensive and defensive lineman Braeden Martin said.

“We’re here to hit people in the mouth and we really want to show them what we are and what Mooreville troopers are made of.”

“The confidence is still there,” Peugh said on his team that has reached three consecutive postseasons.

“You have to go out and play. Every body puts their pants on the same way. Everybody has to hit each other in the mouth the same and, at the end of the day, it’s just who wants it the most. You got to go out there and give it your all.”

The Super Troopers begin 2017 on the road against Booneville before a home test against North Pontotoc.