#HSFT21 Stop #7 — TCPS Eagles

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) — The Eagles of TCPS have unfinished business.

“To be real, I don’t think anybody wants the smoke,” senior running back/defensive back Jayden Warren said.

After coming up just short of an appearance in the 1A semifinals in 2020 — TCPS looks to push further this season. The goal, like always, is to win a state championship.

“That’s what we really want. We were for that last year too we just fell a little bit short,” junior slot receiver/defensive back Laith Holiday said.

The Eagles lost 23 seniors from last season’s squad, including key players such as former QB Khi Holiday and WR Noah Foster.

Holiday alone racked up over 4, 100 total yards and 67 touchdowns in his senior season.

TCPS knows players like Holiday and Foster are irreplaceable but are confident they have the guys to get the job done.

“It’s hard to replace guys like that, but we’ve been blessed with young men like John Paul and Laith and Jaden,” head coach Shaune Holiday said.  “There’s so many kids on this team that really work hard. Now that we’ve started a winning tradition here. They want to keep that tradition going, so it’s one man down next man up.”

“Just working in the off-season as we are now. That will definitely help our chances this year. They’re kind of irreplaceable, but the work we’ve been putting in is going to be helpful,” senior wide receiver Jon Paul Yates said.

If there’s one thing this Eagles squad isn’t afraid to boast it’s the team’s new size. Coach Holiday’s players have been lifting hard to become a new and improved TCPS team that looks to run the ball more often.”

“The guys are falling in love with the weight room. They love to come in here. Once you get young men that start to see their body change they love to do it,” Coach Holiday said.

“We come in here and work hard every day. We ain’t coming up in here for no reason. So we just gotta push harder,” Warren said.

“We’re going to switch up our offense with more running instead of passing. I think that will really help us this year,” Yates said.

The season begins for TCPS with a home game against North Pontotoc on August 27th.

“We’re looking to set a big tone cause we beat them last year and were supposed to be one of the best 1A teams so we’re going to set the tone right,” Laith Holiday said.