The West Marion Trojans football team was back on the gridiron last week.
The Trojans played Sumrall for a half May 10 at Southern Miss in their annual spring game and outscored the Bobcats 8-6.
“We saw some good things. As always in the spring we saw some things we need to work on,” head coach Brad Duncan said. “I think it was a good spring, though; I really do.”
Duncan said the commitment and work ethic the Trojans have shown since the end of last season, when they went 6-7 and made it to the second round of the playoffs, has impressed him.
“We had as good a winter as we’ve had in a long time. Coach Brandon Thornhill does a heck of a job with that,” he said. “We seem to be a little physical than we were last year. I really like that. We had almost of all our kids out. I think we dressed 48 and had a couple who didn’t get to dress, so we had over 50 kids in our workout program. That’s an improvement.”
The biggest area of turnover on the Trojans roster is up front on the offensive line with five new faces.
“We had three who graduated, one who is moving away — our center Tyrese (Smith) is moving down to Florida — and we had one quit — Bryant Magee, our big offensive tackle decided he didn’t love football anymore. We had to replace all five from last year,” Duncan said. “They kind of surprised us a little bit (against Sumrall) because we were unsure, but they gave us some protection and held their own. We won’t be as big as we’ve been in the past up front, but we’re going to be OK, I think.”
Duncan said a number of leaders emerged to complement the infectious energy rising junior quarterback and linebacker Jeremiah Holmes provides.
“Jeremiah Holmes does a heck of a job and has been a leader. Blaten Norris has been the guy all winter for us, plays nose guard for us, and he’s just such a worker. He leads by example. He’s not a rah-rah kind of guy,” he said. “A couple of our seniors-to-be like Dontavius McGowan have stepped up in the weight room. Him and Noland Miller are going to have really good senior years. We’ve had a really good winter, and it’s because of that leadership.”
The Trojans will continue to work out throughout the summer in preparation for the season opener Aug. 16 at home against Presbyterian Christian.
Pictured Above: West Marion quarterback Jeremiah Holmes breaks through a pair of East Marion arm tackles, one by East Marion’s Flenard McLin (10). | Photo by Mark Rogers
