Kris Pickle knew his new players were hungry to win the day he met them.
Pickle didn’t know much about the New Hope High School football players he had inherited, but he remembers telling his assistant coaches something important.
“They have never won, and we’re going to have to figure out a way to teach them how to win and teach them how to believe,” Pickle told his coaches.
Months later, Pickle can look back at that initial meeting and take pride in how far the Trojans have come. Coming off three-straight losing seasons with two head coaches, Pickle and his staff helped the Trojans believe they could be successful and that they could compete for championships. Although the team’s goal of winning a district championship vanished two weeks ago in Oxford, New Hope has another goal to play for at 7 p.m. Friday. To accomplish it, New Hope will have to do something it hasn’t in a long time: beat West Point.
“You want that big win, just like Columbus got that win against Madison Central (last week),” Pickle said. “You want that big win that could put a stamp on your season so people can’t say, ‘Well, they didn’t play anybody.’ That is what this game is kind of like. If anybody had any doubts about us, they could kind of erase those doubts with a game like this.”
New Hope (8-1) and West Point (7-3 are tied at 4-1 in Class 5A, Region 1. The winner of Friday night’s game likely will wrap up the No. 2 seed in the region and guarantee a home game in the first round of the North State playoffs with one game remaining in the regular season. The loser will have to wait for the results of other Region 1 games to determine if the outcome of its final regular-season game will decide if it is the region’s No. 3 or No. 4 playoff seed.
Pickle wasted little time turning the page last week following a 47-14 victory against Lewisburg. After the teams shook hands, Pickle gathered his players and encouraged them to enjoy the win and the rest of the Homecoming weekend, but he also looked ahead to the task at hand the following week. He said Tuesday he wanted to plant the seed in his players’ minds so they could prepare themselves for the challenge they will face this week.
“They’re not dumb. They know what was coming ahead,” Pickle said. “They can sit there and say they don’t look ahead past Lewisburg or anybody like that to West Point, but there is no doubt in my mind it was in the back of their mind and they were thinking about it. They now what is at stake and where we stand in the division and what this game means.”
West Point has won the last 12 meetings in the series. The teams didn’t play from 2003-06, and you have to go all the way back to Nov. 6, 1998, for the last time New Hope beat West Point (27-14 under coach Andy Stevens).
Pickle doesn’t know how past New Hope teams approached games against West Point, which is known for its physical brand of football. But he is confident his players can play with the Green Wave and that they believe they can win the game. To do that, he said New Hope will have to match West Point’s intensity and their level of physicalness.
“I believe they feel like they belong with those guys and belong in the upper echelon of 5A teams in the North,” Pickle said. “Friday’s game is one of those where you can put a stamp on it and kind of mark your place in the elite in 5A in the North. If you win that game, you’re in the top two to three. If you lose the game, there is going to be a good team that is going to go into the playoffs as the No. 3 seed. There is only one team that can go second, and we hope it is us. I think we have a good shot if we play like we’re capable of playing.”
Pickle said a victory against Columbus early in the season was a “statement” win that gave his players confidence to know they could reverse the program’s fortunes. He said that confidence has grown throughout the season, as the players have continued to play hard. As a result, people around the state are noticing. Prior to the game against Oxford, New Hope climbed into The Associated Press overall top 10. This week, New Hope moved up to No. 3 in The AP’s Class 5A poll. West Point is also receiving votes. New Hope has snapped its losing ways with a solid ground game led by junior running back Brenton Spann, a passing game that has big-play capabilities with senior Stone Sisson and wide receiver Bryson Ellis, and an opportunistic defense that has made significant improvement from last season.
“We are creating our own opportunities, which puts us in good position to win ballgames,” Pickle said. “Whether it is a turnover, or a big play, or a big run, I think we are a little more opportunistic than they have been in the past. I think it has carried over to their attitudes and mind-sets. If you feel like you can win, you’re going to have a chance. If you go out there hoping you’re going to stay in a game with somebody, you’re not going to win many of those ballgames.”
Pickle feels New Hope has “exceeded everybody else’s expectations” but hasn’t exceeded its expectations. He acknowledges the team had to re-assess its goals following the 42-21 loss at Oxford, but he said the players rebounded nicely from that loss to beat Lewisburg. Spann had a 60-yard touchdown run, while Sisson was 12 of 16 for 228 yards and three touchdowns. Ellis had five catches for 135 yards, including all three touchdowns, as part of a 466-yard offensive outburst. Things are bound to be a little tougher for New Hope on Friday night, but Pickle believes his team will be ready.
“I think we match up well with them,” Pickle said. “They’re going to run the football at us. We haven’t faced anybody that has just come at us other than Clarksdale. It is going to be a challenge for us, but I think our kids know what is coming up and what is expected of them and that they can compete and that they can play.
“Like I told the kids, we’re not going to back down from them or anybody else. We’re going to give them our best shot. We will find out at 9:30 or 10 o’clock Friday night whether our best shot was good enough. We feel like it is if we play like we’re capable of playing and don’t turn the ball over.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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