Photo by Colin Damms/Dispatch staff
NEW HOPE — “What we did last season was terrible.”
Senior tight end Lonnie Shinn Jr. didn’t hold back when reflecting on New Hope’s 2023 season. The Trojans went 0-10 in a year where they were shut out three times and allowed 30 or more points in eight games.
Shinn is part of a Class of 2025 that can’t stand losing, and they don’t want to leave behind a program that continues losing.
Enter first-year head coach, Allen Glenn.
“Coach Glenn and the staff came and got started in the spring,” Shinn said. “He’s an offensive-minded guy and he’s definitely changing it around. He loves the way the new offense is, it’s fast and quick and everything we’re looking for. Definitely better than last year.”
Glenn was head coach at Petal for three seasons, going 12-20 before resigning last November and taking over the Trojans in February.
Before Petal, Glenn was head coach at Amory High School for five seasons, where he went 37-24 and won two district titles. Amory reached the playoffs in each of Glenn’s five seasons there, with a 3-5 postseason record. He isn’t new to the area and knows how tough the teams around here are, but that hasn’t dampened his enthusiasm for meeting the challenge of changing the culture.
“I grew up in Amory,” he said. “I’m a North Mississippi guy, so I know all there is to know about the teams in this area. I played against them, I was a coach in Tupelo and Louisville for a few years, I’m very aware of how competitive it is in this area.”
New Hope’s post-realignment district is a tough one, highlighted by defending 5A champions West Point, who still return a lot of talent under first-year head coach (and longtime assistant) Brett Morgan.
After that are Clarksdale, reigning district champions and runners up to West Point for the North Half title, as well as Lafayette, Pontotoc and Corinth. It will take a lot of work to turn things around with such strong opponents each year, but Glenn wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’ve reiterated to the team how much of an honor it is to play in a league that is as tough as this one,” Glenn said. “In my opinion it’s the toughest 5A league in the state and we have the opportunity to compete in it. All those other teams have a ton of history and tradition in their programs and we have a lot of respect for them. We’re excited about the opportunity to do that and change the identity and culture of New Hope going forward.”
There is still a lot of work to be done. Pads only just came on in practice and Glenn still hasn’t named a starting quarterback, but the competition for starting roles is just another part of the competitive drive noticeable among the players at practice.
“From the first day that I met them back in February, I knew they wanted to win,” Glenn said. “They work hard, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you they were a zero-win team from the time I met them. From that point until now they’ve been hungry. I think they’re excited about changing the dynamic and changing the culture, but they want to taste success and that’s our goal. They’re excited about the opportunity to be better than they have been.”
The Trojans open the season next week with a home game against Itawamba Agricultural, the first of five non-district games. It’s not just an early test, it’s one of 10 opportunities to improve on last season and redefine Trojan football.
“We’re looking to bounce back from it, we want to win super bad because we played 10 games and lost all of them,” Shinn said. “The motivation for this year is very different. We’ve got a lot of seniors, it was more of a young team last year so just about everyone experienced it. Now we’re just trying to put it together and bounce back. Everyone counting us out, we’re trying to show them what we’re about.”
ROSTER w/ COACHES
| 0 | Jerone Baskin | 6’1 | 195 | LB | 12 | 50 | Tariq Butler | 6’1 | 219 | OL | 11 | |
| 1 | Cameron Mitchell | ATH | 11 | 51 | Micah Butler | 6’1 | 239 | OL | 11 | |||
| 2 | Jeremiah Harkins | 5’11 | 202 | ATH | 11 | 52 | Jayden Brown | 5’6 | 208 | OL | 11 | |
| 3 | Tyrekus Brooks | 5’11 | 164 | ATH | 9 | 53 | British Footman | 5’9 | 169 | DB | 9 | |
| 4 | Braxton Williams | 5’10 | 161 | ATH | 12 | 54 | Jeston West | 5’9 | 226 | DL | 9 | |
| 5 | Brycen McBeath | 5’8 | 166 | LB | 11 | 55 | Mason Burgess | 5’10 | 241 | OL | 12 | |
| 6 | Merrit Moon | 5’8 | 185 | WR | 12 | 56 | Hayden Smith | 5’7 | 175 | LB | 9 | |
| 7 | Drew Glenn | 6′ | 135 | QB | 9 | 57 | Jayden Harris | 5’10 | 189 | LB | 9 | |
| 8 | Jeremiah Malone | 5’8 | 160 | DB | 11 | 58 | Braylen Weatherspoon | 5’11 | 170 | OL | 9 | |
| 9 | Jaylin Shelton | 5’11 | 142 | DB | 12 | 59 | Arterio Thornton | 5’5 | 165 | LB | 9 | |
| 10 | Juice Tate | 5’11 | 191 | QB | 10 | 60 | Major Long | 5’8 | 255 | OL | 9 | |
| 11 | Lonnie Shinn | 6’4 | 232 | TE/H | 12 | 61 | Kyler Gray | 6′ | 268 | OL | 12 | |
| 12 | Quentin Shirley | 6’3 | 167 | DB | 10 | 62 | ||||||
| 13 | Trey Tippett | 5’10 | 171 | ATH | 10 | 63 | Harley Tracey | 5’10 | 190 | OL | 9 | |
| 14 | Hayden Wofford | 6’1 | 175 | TE/H | 12 | 64 | Dalton Elmore | 6’3 | 226 | OL/DL | 11 | |
| 15 | Braylon Bouldes | 5’10 | 176 | LB | 12 | 65 | Aiden Barksdale | 5’10 | 261 | OL | 9 | |
| 16 | Tavaris Hill | 5’9 | 144 | DB | 11 | 66 | ||||||
| 17 | Marvin Vickers | 5’11 | 156 | LB | 10 | 67 | ||||||
| 18 | Nick Cotton | 5’10 | 157 | ATH | 12 | 68 | Carlos Williams | 6′ | 281 | OL | 12 | |
| 19 | Tyler Holmes | 5’7 | 140 | RB | 10 | 69 | Christian Bruce | 6’1 | 281 | OL | 10 | |
| 20 | Jacob Jefferson | 5’5 | 144 | RB | 10 | 70 | ||||||
| 21 | Jayden King | 5’7 | 128 | WR | 9 | 71 | CJ Richardson | 5’9 | 223 | OL | 11 | |
| 22 | John Noah Cole | 5’9 | 170 | LB | 11 | 72 | ||||||
| 23 | Malachi Franks | 5’11 | 146 | WR | 10 | 73 | ||||||
| 24 | Jordan Gunn | 5’6 | 146 | DB | 12 | 74 | ||||||
| 25 | Jalen Atterberry | 5’6 | 122 | DB | 12 | 75 | Charles Harrison | 6’1 | 272 | OL | 12 | |
| 26 | Tyler Bridges | 5’6 | 149 | DB | 11 | 76 | Isaac Akwaowo | 5’6 | 256 | OL | 10 | |
| 27 | Cortlin Blanchard | 5’10 | 171 | DB | 12 | 77 | Jaidyn Rupert | 6′ | 236 | OL | 10 | |
| 28 | James Hawk | 6′ | 177 | LB | 11 | 78 | Chance Hunt | 6′ | 202 | OL | 10 | |
| 29 | Bryson Harris | DB | 9 | 79 | Willis Harris | 6’4 | 249 | OL | 12 | |||
| 30 | Tyler Gray | 5’11 | 129 | DB | 12 | 80 | Karter Porter | 5’10 | 131 | WR | 9 | |
| 31 | Braydon Blanchard | 5’6 | 108 | WR | 10 | 81 | Jacob Bankhead | 5’4 | 97 | WR | 9 | |
| 32 | Tony Martin | 5’11 | 175 | DB | 9 | 82 | Caden Scaff | 5’10 | 146 | WR | 11 | |
| 33 | Jeremiah Brewer | 5’6 | 142 | DB | 12 | 83 | John Ross Dale | 5’5 | 130 | WR | 9 | |
| 34 | Brett Williamson | 5’10 | 158 | LB | 12 | 84 | Braylon Williams | 5’10 | 140 | WR | 10 | |
| 35 | Topher Boyett | 5’10 | 151 | LB | 12 | 85 | Logan Wofford | 6’1 | 168 | WR | 10 | |
| 36 | Jaylen Ellis | 5’7 | 127 | DB | 9 | 86 | Carson Rickman | 5’9 | 146 | K/P | 11 | |
| 37 | Jake Nesom | LB | 10 | 87 | Jacob Fisher | 5’8 | 136 | WR | 10 | |||
| 38 | Jaylon Brandon | 5’5 | 135 | LB | 9 | 88 | Bryant Jennings | 6’1 | 158 | WR | 11 | |
| 39 | Caleb Cunningham | 5’7 | 144 | DB | 9 | 89 | Sean Weekes | 5’9 | 149 | DB | 11 | |
| 40 | Landon Shurden | LB | 9 | 90 | Jaquaruis Petty | 5’7 | 226 | DL | 9 | |||
| 41 | Jaylan Smith | 5’5 | 157 | LB | 9 | 91 | Bobby Bain | 5’9 | 201 | DL | 10 | |
| 42 | Tobias Roby | 5’10 | 183 | LB | 9 | 92 | Dai’Sean Young | 5’10 | 283 | DL | 11 | |
| 43 | Jaxson Turner | 5’11 | 164 | DB | 10 | 93 | Troy Puckett | LB | 11 | |||
| 44 | Tyler Godfrey | 5’5 | 140 | LB | 9 | 94 | ||||||
| 45 | 95 | Solomon Jackson | 6’3 | 188 | DL | 11 | ||||||
| 46 | Michael Sampson | 5’5 | 154 | RB | 11 | 96 | ||||||
| 47 | Jaylan King | 5’7 | 124 | DB | 9 | 97 | ||||||
| 48 | Jack Moore | 5’10 | 169 | TE/H | 10 | 98 | ||||||
| 49 | Miles Cuthbertson | 5’7 | 149 | LB | 9 | 99 | Jaiden Linebarker | 6’3 | 222 | DL | 12 | |
| Coaches | Allen Glenn, Nathan Kendrick, Stuart Shaw, Tahj Sykes, Adam White, Donivan Payne, Brad Butler, Lawrence Brown, DJ Beckom, and Tyler Murphy | |||||||||||
| Managers | John Barksdale, Aeden Marsh, James Burns, Josiah Stevenson, Nathan Crowe | |||||||||||
| Filmers | Myron Brown, De’Avion Cockrell, Cassie | |||||||||||
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
