#HSFT17: Stop No. 29 — Choctaw County Chargers

ACKERMAN, Miss. (WCBI) — A new head coach charges in at Choctaw County in 2017.

Former Lafayette County defensive coordinator Ben Ashley takes over the team now, and looks forward to the new opportunity.

“God led me and my family here. Just couldn’t be more excited about it. Good community. Good place. A great place to raise your family, and a great place to coach football,” said head coach Ben Ashley.

The Chargers have twelve seniors on this year’s team.

The team missed out on a winning season last year, and they have a different mindset heading into the fall.

“I’m really excited. A bunch of new positions this year. I come from slot receiver to quarterback. I’m learning new things. It’s going to be really exciting,” said senior quarterback Austin Telano.

“I’ve been playing football since I was little. I’m just ready to show and turn people around. Some people don’t believe in us. I really think we can turn this season around and do some really important things,” adds senior fullback Cameron Miller.

“I think we’ve got a chance to be competitive right out of the gate. Have no idea what that means in wins and losses. I feel like we’ve got some good leadership with our seniors, and that will go along way,” Ashley adds.

Ashley accepted the new head coaching position back in February 2017. The Chargers have learned a bit from his new system back in spring practice. They are really focused on learning more throughout the summer.

“He’s a strong coach. If he was a player, he’d be a big time leader. We really like coach Ashley coming into this system and leading us to a winning program,” Telano said.

“He’s a good coach. He just wants us to come out here and work hard and give it our all. He gives his all and we are going to do the same,” Miller adds.

The Chargers come over from the 3A South division to the 3A North division. They are very familiar with the teams in the likes of Houston, Aberdeen, and South Pontotoc. This team is eager for a new challenge in the division.

“I think it’s going to be a good year coming into this new division, because we are familiar with all of these teams. We should know what’s going on and be able to go through this division pretty easy,” Telano said.

“You look at that division and all those teams are pretty consistent. It’s going to be a challenge for sure, but we are definitely looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity to be in the north,” Ashley adds.

You won’t ever hear coach Ashley talking about winning championships, but he knows what this team can accomplish this year to make it back to the postseason and bring that mentality that he had during his time at Lafayette.

“If we do the things that it takes to get better from week to week then we’ll be in the playoffs I feel like. I feel like we will have a shot at being one of those four teams to be in the playoffs,” Ashley adds.

Choctaw County will open their season on the road at East Webster August 18th.