#HSFT16: Stop No. 38 – Starkville Academy Volunteers

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — It was another historic season at Starkville Academy in 2015.

For the first time since moving to the Triple-A division, the Volunteers won back to back district titles.

But the end to the season left the Vols disappointed and asking the question: What If?

This year’s team hopes to carry the torch for a program that has notched back to back double digit win seasons.

We have an interesting group,” head coach Chase Nicholson said. “I tell them all the time they are very talented. What I’m most excited is seeing what they are going to do on Friday night.

“When it gets hard, how will they respond? That’s what excites me because that is where the coaching, the family and togetherness comes in. That’s how they will know to respond together and have each other’s back.”

15 seniors depart from a Starkville Academy team that out-scored their opponents by 2 touchdowns a season ago.

But the interesting group that coach Chase Nicholson was talking about has a quiet confidence to themselves that replacing those big names from the class of 2015 can be done, even if it is different not having those same names we are used to seeing.

“It’s a little weird,” senior Dalton Dempsey said. “There were some great guys and some great athletes. We have great players too so it’s not a big deal.”

Last year, we had superstars and big names,” junior Noah Methvin said. “But this year we have 5 or 6 receivers and 5 or 6 on the defensive line. We want a lot of guys to replace them and not just one player.”

And that depth aims to put last season’s difficult end to the season behind them.

The Vols had plans of playing for a State Championship for a second straight season but ran into a tough Simpson Academy team that ended their run back to Clinton.

This year, it’s a different team and a different group ready to establish their own legacy and history.

We want to go further than last year,” coach Nicholson said. “Obviously it leaves a bad taste in our mouth but it doesn’t drive us because we’re not that team. We have to find our own path. We have new goals.”

“We got beat out in the second round,” Dempsey said. “We know we should have gone farther so we know we need to train harder so it won’t happen again.”