#HSFT18 Stop No. 20 – Water Valley

*District games

WATER VALLEY, Miss. (WCBI) —  There’s only one thing on Water Valley’s mind.

“State,” Paris Adams said. “That’s the only thing on our mind is state.”

The Blue Devils are aiming high for its goals in 2018, and have good reason too. 15 seniors return to Death Valley, coming off a playoff appearance that ended in the second round.

Head coach Brad Embry says the new season began shortly after the loss.

“The kids have taken it upon themselves to hold each other accountable,” Embry said. “That’s a coach’s dream, when kids are taking control of the team and the leadership is from within. I think that bodes well for this upcoming season and we have some good athletes and good football players, but a lot of people do. When you have leadership like we do, that usually bodes well.”

This year’s senior class has seen it all on a football field.

From a 2-9 record in 2016, jumping to 8-5 in 2017, Embry believes the maturity in his locker room may get this Blue Devils team to make the jump.

“They’ve played a lot of football. They’ve seen the good times and the bad times when they were playing as young kids. So, I think they’re talented. They’re, I’ve had talented teams before that weren’t this accountable, without this much leadership. So, I think that’s whats going to set them above.”

You don’t have to ask this group of Blue Devils how hungry they are for playoff success. They’ve been dreaming about it since day one.

“Since we went 2-9, that’s when we started dreaming about state,” Adams said. “Because we felt how to lose, now we want to feel how to win.”

“We’ve got to work hard this year,” Rucker. “Make sure we got to do what we got to do, so when we get to that point, we’ll be ready for it, so we’re ready to win the game.”

“We’ve put in enough hard work and dedication in to it,” Cook said.  “It’s a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in to it. So that’s how we’re going to make it to state.”

“We don’t want to come home in November,” Benson said.  “We want to play through December, state championship.”

The Blue Devils will welcome Eupora to Death Valley in week one.