HSFT Stop #32: New Albany

New Albany football has had four straight winning seasons under head coach Cody Stubblefield. The Bulldogs took home the district title in 2024 and won eight more games last season. A standard has been set, but the team is far from satisfied.

“Success is you measure a lot of different ways, but we want to win. You know, anytime we touch the field, we want to compete and win,” Stubblefield said. “We want to put a product out there that our community is proud of, and we want to grow great young men as part of the program. You wanna improve every year, you know, aim for we want to be satisfied. You know, obviously double digits would be great, but we want to make a run in the playoffs and just be as successful on the field as we can.”

The Bulldogs take a lot of pride in what they’ve accomplished in recent seasons, but how they’ve been able to take care of business on their home turf stands out more than the rest.

“I don’t feel we’ve lost a game in two years, so that’s pretty motivation for us. So trying to keep that streak alive, keep it going,” Tyler Evans, New Albany cornerback, said.

“Mean, that’s just a big thing. That’s something we can, you know, have on our backs going into the season, something to defend. So that’s a big deal and something to work forward to keep going,” AJ Curbow said.

But winning home games is only part of the plan. Cody Stubblefield has implemented a winning culture that has helped New Albany focus more on the process than the results.

“You know, all-star sort of mindset to keep it going. I have a good mindset. You can’t grow into a bad mindset as a quarterback. You’ve got to be a big leader and stuff. You have to prove it on the field. You have to show on-field improvement instead of just talk,” said quarterback Kamron Ray.

“I’ve learned everything from Coach Stubblefield as a coach, outside of football, as Coach Stubblefield has always been there for me ever since seventh grade, over to the middle school, and talking to him. He has been a big part of my high school career,” said Jayden Foster, New Albany defensive end.

The Bulldogs return a lot of skill position players this season, and the team is confident that the returners will be able to lead the program on and off the field.

“Just doing the best I can and just showing others that, you know. So even if you mess up, you know, you keep your head up and keep on going to the next play, you know, even if they don’t know what to do to do it, you know, they watch me,” said Zontarious King, New Albany wide receiver. “And if I miss it, you know, so they’re going to think about it, you know, and we don’t want that. So I got to be on my best behavior out all the time so they can, you know, do better in the future.”

“We’ve got a lot of guys that are capable of making special plays offensively. Our defense is flying around coaches mindset. We want to keep it simple so those guys are playing fast and they’re effective,” said Cody Stubblefield, New Albany head coach.

New Albany will kick off their season against Saltillo on Aug. 28.