NEW HOPE — A historic season for New Hope football continues on Friday as the Trojans look to stay undefeated in district play against Lafayette on Senior Night.
First-year head coach Allen Glenn has turned the Trojans into worst-to-first hopefuls, starting 7-1 after joining the program from Petal in the spring. The team is on a six-game winning streak since a loss on the road to Class 3A contenders Choctaw County and has its most wins in a season since 2014.
The Commodores (0-8) are still looking for their first win of the season. It’s a team having a down year, but Glenn isn’t letting his guys overlook the challenge to finish strong in front of a home crowd.
“All you’ve got to do is turn on the tape,” he said of facing the Commodores. “We have areas we need to improve on, we’re not a complete team, and you see Lafayette and they’re a very talented young group. It’s not hard to realize you need to keep your sights set. Their record is what it is, but they’re a talented team with a program that is rich in tradition. It’s important that our guys focus on going 1-0.”
It’s the last chance to play at home in the regular season, though a home playoff game is still very possible. The Trojans have shown continued improvement in district play after an early setback, but that experience has seen them win close battles both at home and away.
“I think we hit some adversity in games,” Glenn said, reflecting on the six-game run. “You get it in every game at some point, but I think our guys have handled it well ever since losing at Choctaw County. Like we’ve said multiple times, we try to keep it week by week. The goal is 1-0 every week, and I know that’s coachspeak, but it’s important that we’ve been able to do that and we hope to continue that against a talented Lafayette team.”
One such fork in the road came at Columbus, where the Trojans won 27-25 but lost one of their quarterbacks when Joshua “Juice” Tate suffered a season-ending injury. Tate and Tyrekus Brooks had split drives to that point in the season, an approach that worked surprisingly well.
“Early on with Juice and Tyrekus, it was every other series they swapped out,” Glenn said. “We were doing very well and unfortunately in the Columbus game, Juice broke his collarbone. Until that point those guys had managed it well, I was curious how it would go but they handled it like mature young men.”
Brooks has taken the reins of the offense and things haven’t slowed down. The Trojans are as prolific as ever, scoring 36 points or more in each of the three wins with him under center. He is leading a team with a lot of seniors and juniors hungry to win while they can, and after a 36-20 win over rivals Clarksdale last week the team is really flexing its muscles.
Brooks’ dual-threat ability and familiarity with the playbook at such a young age have given the team great liberty to pound the rock like Glenn wants them to.
“To win big you need to run the football,” he said. “To have a quarterback that can help you there is huge because it’s another guy they have to account for defensively. It’s been big having a mobile guy who can throw it as well.”
By winning just two more games, the senior class can secure as many wins this season as they have in the first three years combined. Beyond that, this is a team that can make noise in the playoffs. It’s also a team that isn’t getting ahead of itself and part of the reason why is a senior class that isn’t taking this experience for granted.
“I’m just proud of those guys and the fight that they have shown,” Glenn said of his leaders in the locker room. “It shows their character, and that didn’t just happen overnight. That was built before I got here. I’m proud of those young men and proud of their buy-in. They’ve bought into the culture we’re trying to build and they’ve played hard. I felt it when I got here with those seniors, there were leadership qualities there and I’m grateful to them for accepting us. Hopefully, we can continue to win for them.”
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