#HSFT17: Stop No. 58 – Tupelo Golden Wave

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) — It was another record breaking season at Tupelo in 2016.

The Golden Wave rattled off 12 straight wins enroute to the school’s first division title in 17 years.

But the Gold Ball eluded themblankets in 2016 so the focus for 5th year head coach Trent Hammond as his team reaches the summit is on the little things such as effort & intensity in practice and workouts.

“This is a team that has had great attitude and effort every day,” Hammond said. “So far, this team has been a joy just to be around because our attitude is there and we’re trying to out-work others every day.”

That’s high praise coming from Coach Hammond who will speak honestly & truthfully about his team.

He knows he has a special team returning for 2017 with the likes of MSU commit Jett Johnson, Texas San Antonio commit Peter Gray and offensive superstars Stephon McGlaun, J-Rock Williams and Jordan Jernigan.

But the focus for this year’s team is on just that: this year.

“About right after July 4th we put last year to bed,” coach Hammond said. “We can be confident we had a great year but last year is last year. We’re 0-0. We’re preparing to be the best we can be. That attitude and effort can go hand in hand with an attitude of believing you can, and the effort of practicing hopefully translates into what we were last year.”

And last year’s success means no one will be surprised by what the Golden Wave will do this year.

With a heavy amount of D1 talent on the team, Tupelo knows they will have the bulls-eye on their back, and the team is relishing that position this season.

“I talked to them last year about us being the hunter,” Hammond said. “Someone else was the hunted. This year, we’ve had a lot of state-wide press. It’s different. It’s easy to get to the top of the mountain but now we need a different attitude to stay there. Our kids have been there knowing we will get every team’s best shot. As long as we continue to work and do what we’re supposed to, it will only get harder.”

Tupelo will begin the season this Friday night with a major 6A matchup at the Flood Zone against fellow Top 10 team Meridian.