High School Football Preview: Booker T. Washington & Park Crossing
High School Football
Booker T. Washington
Last season the Booker T. Washington Golden Eagles finished the regular season with a 5-5 record. The team also made the programs second ever appearance in the playoffs, got the program’s first ever playoff win, and hosted a playoff game for the first time in program history. The Golden Eagles did fall to the Anniston Bulldogs in the second round 38-20, but after such a historic run they are excited to see what they’re able to put together this season.
“We’ve got a lot of the guys that made plays for us last year, a lot of the guys that created those holes, a lot of the guys that made tackles, they’re all coming back this year and we are excited for what we’ve got going on in Tuskegee, Alabama,” says Head Coach Lawrence O’Neal.
The season before Coach O’Neal took over the program, there were only 19 players on the roster. Now headed into the 2023 season there are 56 players on the roster. O’Neal says he’s happy to be
building something that people want to be a part of, but he’s also building a team culture that is centered around hard work.
“It’s going to be a physical team, we’re going to come out and we’re going to be disciplined, we’re going to be well coached. We’ve got some guys that are uber athletic and we’ve got some guys that really love the game of football. It’s just a difference in the program, a difference in the atmosphere,” says O’Neal.
The Golden Eagles kick off the 2023 season on August 25th at Crampton Bowl against Trinity Presbyterian.
Park Crossing
Last season the Park Crossing Thunderbirds finished up the 2022 season with a 0-9 record in Head Coach Ty Lockett’s first season with the team. Now with a whole season and offseason running the program, Lockett feels confident ahead of the team’s 2023 campaign.
“They have come with a renewed sense of intensity, a new sense of urgency, a new sense of focus. They think about what is coach telling me, what is the purpose of this drill, what am I getting out of this practice, I’m going in and trying to get better than I was yesterday, so don’t have the same results that I had last time. That lesson that we got last year of going 0-9, speaks volumes about teaching our guys about what’s important and what they need to do to not have those same feelings and results again,” says Lockett.
Much like what Lockett mentioned, senior nose guard, Jaiden Cleveland, is ready to see the hard work the team has put in over the summer pay off on the field this fall.
“I feel like summer workouts and practices have really been going great. There’s a new sense of intensity and mentality for our football team. We’ve had a couple of disappointing seasons and we’re ready to change that. We’re ready to show what Park Crossing Football is all about,” says Cleveland.
The Thunderbirds kick off the 2023 season on August 25th on the road at Paul W. Bryant.
