HSFT Stop #25: Aberdeen

For the past two seasons, Aberdeen has been knocking on the door of something special. The Bulldogs have reached the third round of the playoffs in back-to-back years, but each time, their season has come to an end just short of the state semifinals.

Now, the third round isn’t the goal anymore. It’s the standard they’re trying to surpass.

“My expectations, the fans’ expectations, our coaches’ expectations, I think the community’s expectation is pushing a little further than what we did last year,” head coach Alex Williams said. “We can’t be satisfied with the third round two years in a row. There’s something to build on, but you can’t be satisfied. Championships are the standard, and that’s what we’re trying to get to. That’s what we’re pushing for.”

Williams enters his eighth season leading the Bulldogs, but this year’s team looks a little different.

Aberdeen is young, with just eight seniors on the roster, meaning those upperclassmen will have to set the tone for a group that will be learning on the fly.

“They have shown up. We only have about seven or eight of them,” Williams said. “A lot of them are lead-by-example type of guys. They’re not very vocal, so we’re trying to get that part out of them.”

One of those veteran leaders is defensive end Kevion Walker, who knows the younger players are watching everything he does.

Walker says leadership isn’t about doing something extraordinary. It’s about doing your job every single day.

“It’s a lot of pressure to play on one person, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to do your job,” Walker said. “As long as you do your job, everything should be alright. They look at me as a leader and a senior. They try to follow behind what I’m doing, and if I can do it, they can do it too. It’s about taking the motivation from someone else and using it for yourself.”

While the Bulldogs may be young, they’re far from inexperienced. This group knows what it feels like to come up just short, and the players believe those playoff runs have prepared them to take the next step.

“I feel like we know what to expect, what to do and what not to do,” Walker said. “We’re going to build on what we’ve already been doing, and we’re going to try to get farther this year.”

On the defensive side of the ball, Jamari Buchanan brings that same mindset every snap.

Buchanan says his motivation comes from keeping his team in the game by making life difficult on opposing quarterbacks.

“What inspires me is getting to the quarterback and keeping my team alive by stopping drives,” Buchanan said. “Every chance we get, we’ve got to hit the quarterback every time. You’ve got to stay hungry.”

And that hunger hasn’t gone away after two straight deep playoff runs. If anything, it’s grown.

“Making it all the way for my town,” Buchanan said. “We made it to the third round, but we’ve got expectations. We’ve got to live up to them.”

Williams says that drive is exactly what fuels the Bulldogs every day.

“That’s why we get up every morning,” Williams said. “We don’t come out here every day and do what we’re supposed to do just for the third round. We’re trying to be the best we can. That’s why you hit the weights. That’s why you do all the running in the summertime. I don’t want to sit here and believe the third round is the best that we are.”

Aberdeen will attempt its breakthrough on Aug. 21 when the Bulldogs host Shannon to open the 2026 season.