#HSFT20 – Stop #1 Nanih Waiya

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NANIH WAIYA, Miss. (WCBI) – “Tough, physical, and competitive. That’s what we try to be everyday.”

If you ask anyone in Nanih Waiya, those are the reasons they are the two-time defending class 1A state champions. A team known for their grit and toughness hopes those traits carry into wins this season.

“It’s all about how we work down here,” tight end J.T. Stokes said. “Even before coach got here, we had people come down here and work and do their best everyday to try to get better. It’s a big part of the success we had here.”

“We’re trying to get these younger guys here and teach them what Warrior Standard means and what you got to do to uphold to that,” lineman Cody Warren said.

“Play every game to the Warrior standard and we’ll be good,” running back Austin Sanders said.

The “Warrior Standard” will be put to the test this season as last year’s senior class is arguably the best to step foot on campus. A class that featured All-Endzone athletes Tylan Glass and Donovan and Devean Turner.

“We lost 10 great seniors last year that contributed to this school in a manner that has never before been done by winning 3 championships,” head coach James Courtney said.

“Their playoff record was astronomical as far as wins and losses, and they were good kids who did it the right way which is what we’re most proud of. But it’s a new year, so we need some new guys to step up.”

The task is made easier as the Warriors return speedster Austin Sanders as well as four offensive linemen and their starting tight end.

“That’s where we’re going to lean heavily on early,” Courtney said. “Austin Sanders is a weapon. He’s just a great football player who’s extremely fast, smart, tough, has great character. He carried us a lot of the season last year when some of those guys were injured so we have a lot of good.”

“We like to just go and get after you,” Stokes said. “Push you around and try to run our offense and do what we got to do. to have all of these big strong talented guys coming back to help us compete is very important for our offense.”

The Warriors title defense will start August 21st as they hit the road to play West Lauderdale.