HSFT Stop #13: Eupora

EUPORA, Miss. (WCBI) — Eupora football is coming into this season with some extra momentum after making it to the north half championship last season for the first time in a decade. Head coach Brad Gray said having that successful of a season will help his squad then build off of what they learned last year.

“It was great,” senior wide receiver Mark Pittman said. “We had a lot of guys bought into the plan. I feel like everybody had the same plan. Week in and week out, everybody had the same plan and came out with energy. I feel like that’s why we went as far as we did.”

The Eagles saw a six-win improvement and won district in 2022. Gray wants his players to carry that energy into 2023, while also keeping in mind that everything must be earned again this year.

“We’ve not made a single tackle or done anything in 2023,” Gray said. “There’s not a stat that’s been recorded. We’ve got to remember that none of those stats are going to carry forward. But the things we talked about as far as our goals and fundamentals — our blocking and tackling — those things will go forward.”

The Eagles are returning eight starters from their defense — headlined by Elijah Wofford in the secondary and Khyrin Morris and Landry Winter on the defensive line.

The offense, however, is where Gray needs guys to step up.

“We lost guys that made big plays on offense, so it’s a challenge to these guys coming back this year to be able to make some of those plays and to recover some of those stats,” Gray said.

Now that this team has gotten a taste of what it’s like to make a run in the postseason, they’ll be better prepared this season to run it back — and take it a step further.

“We all bought in to the same thing. We all have got the same plans. We want to go to state and win,” senior quarterback Eli Clark said. 

Eupora’s season kicks off with some Thursday night football on Aug. 24 against East Webster.