2025 HSFT Stop #43: Winona Christian
WINONA, MS (WCBI)- Winona Christian broke out in Ashley Kuhn’s first season as head coach, with the stars only losing four players after last season. Now, back for 2025, Kuhn is ready to see what his experienced group of players can do this season.
“A lot of these kids have played a lot of football, a lot of them played as 10th graders and got some experience as ninth graders were very senior heavy,” Kuhn said. “We’re hoping that we can build off of last year. Every year is different in this league, and you never know how things are going to go. But we’re excited about what we’ve got coming back and where we’re at this point.”
If there’s one thing that Kuhn can guarantee; It’s that his teams better be willing to work hard. It’s the foundation of his way of playing football, and he believes that the team now uses the same mindset in their everyday lives.
“I’m a firm believer that you learn to work hard. You know, it’ll make you successful in football and eventually, you know, even in life, I think everything’s about hard work. So that’s one of the main things that we build our program around, which is working hard as we practice in the weight room and classroom every day. And we’ve got a bunch of blue-collar type kids that work hard. Our kids will leave with weight lifted and go to work. They have jobs, you know. So they’ve done a really good job buying into that.”
The 2025 Stars have plenty of veteran leadership. The experienced group is going to lean on their senior class both on and off the field.
“We’ve got a senior-heavy team with some leadership,” linebacker Holland Self said. “We got a few young guys that need to learn a little bit, but we’re just trying to push them more and push ourselves at the same time.”
“It just means everything. Leadership is just experienced by being in the moment,” running back Will Irwin said. “We’ve all been there, and it’s just going to mean everything to us. Now, being a senior, I’m just gonna show these guys how much how good it feels to just give it all you got.”
Kuhn and his veteran group will kick off their season against Regent’s School of Oxford on August 22.
