#HSFT21 Stop #9 — Okolona Chieftains

OKOLONA, Miss. (WCBI) — The Okolona Chieftains head into the 2021 season with experience.

“We only lost three. We’ve got about 12 seniors,” Okolona head coach Lamart Harvey said.

The 2020 season was tough on Okolona. The Chieftains finished the season with 2-8 overall record, going just 1-7 in 1A-Region 2. Following the re-classifications, Okolona is looking forward to dropping back down to Region 1.

“I’m excited to be back in what I call north Mississippi. We played in that killer road the last couple years with Nanih Waiya, French Camp and Noxapater. That was a tough division right there,” Harvey said.

“It shouldn’t be that challenging even though we’ll move back to 1A regions. We should come out here and give it our all and win,” senior ATH Kaaria Hykes said.

“It’s going to be a little tough but I believe if people stick with it we’ll see it through,” senior center Samuel Brown said.

As the Chieftains gear up for the upcoming season, Okolona will improve the offensive line, and those aren’t the only changes.

“We’ve always got speed at Okolona and skill guys but we struggle with lineman the last two years. Our main focus is beefing up our line and getting them ready to play in the trenches. We’ve been a double-winged team primarily. We are going to go a little more gun this year. I think we have the lineman to do that. We got two experienced quarterbacks. One who can throw and one who can run. I’m going to try and mix it up to keep people off balance,” Harvey said.

You know the saying “defense wins championships?” So does Coach Harvey. The Chieftains will focus on a defense-first mentality, hoping it allows them to sustain wins this season.

“We’re going to have a freshman and two seniors up front playing a three man front and they can all go. They’re going to command some double teams because they can all play. Our linebacker’s core is 50-50 young and veteran groups. I’m excited about the defense.”

The season begins for Okolona against Aberdeen at home on August 27th.