#HSFT17: Stop No. 19 – North Pontotoc Vikings

ECRU, Miss. (WCBI) — A new head man takes charge in Ecru leading the North Pontotoc Vikings.

Andy Crotwell comes over from Caledonia after spending four years as head coach with the Confederates.

He looks forward to the opportunity leading the blue and orange.

“They’ve got great tradition. They are an up an coming place. It’s close to family. There is a lot of really good things going on here,” said head coach Andy Crotwell.

The team is also learning coach Crotwell’s system this off-season, and they feel that he’s a good fit for their program.

“I feel like he fits well with us. We haven’t got the whole complete playbook in, but I feel like we can be really dangerous when we do,” said senior quarterback Clark Mills.

“He’ll do a really good job of just taken over with us, and just showing us how to move down the field. I think we’ll have a really good offensive year,” adds senior lineman Will Weatherly.

The Vikings finished 10-4 in 2016, losing to Velma Jackson in the 3rd round of the playoffs. The team looks forward for a new opportunity this season.

“I think we have an opportunity to be a very good football team. The transition will be key and how quickly we are able to do that from one philosophy to another, so far the players have been receptive,” Crotwell said.

“I’m really excited to see some of our guys that are coming up, and they’ve been working hard for a long time. I think we will do pretty good. It’s really just all about working hard as teammates and really trusting each other,” Weatherly said.

“We’ve been really working hard this off-season. I feel like we have a really special team. We are really close this year more than we have been. I feel like that’s going to work well for us around playoff time,” Mills adds.

Coach Crotwell likes how his team’s focus of how far they’ve come along this off-season in summer workouts. He hopes that continues leading up to the season.

“I think the team has a lot of good focus. I think their is good energy. We have good participation so far in summer weights. We’ve seen everybody we are expected to see. I think our team has shown a lot of focus,” Crotwell said.

North Pontotoc will open its 2017 season on the road August 18th at Saltillo.