High School Football Preview: Montgomery Academy & Trinity
High School Football
Montgomery Academy
Last season the Montgomery Academy Eagles finished up the year with a 5-5 record in the regular season before falling to T.R. Miller in the opening round of the playoffs.
This season the Eagles have a new Head Coach, that being former Defensive Coordinator Ethan McBride. According to McBride, while the team will be replacing some key pieces from last year, they do also welcome back a core group of veterans.
“Even though we’ve got a lot of people that are going to be new at starting, we have leadership from people that have played for nearly 40 games because we’ve gone so far in the playoffs. So we have those key leaders, the next step is these young sophomores and even freshmen in some cases that are stepping up,” says McBride.
The main focus for McBride and his team this season is being the best team that they can.
“I don’t really look forward and I don’t really look back, I’m only focused on the present and the now…Can we be the best us. If being the best us that we can be is making the first round and then losing , then it is. If the best us is making it all the way to the state championship, than it is. We’re just going to try and be the best we can be every single day week in and week out,” says McBride.
Both Parker Cook and DJ Vinson feel that the work the team has done over the offseason has prepared them to have a successful 2023 season.
“I feel like we’re proving people wrong from our previous season…I think in our spring game we surprised ourselves a lot coming out and scoring quick through the offense and getting some stops on defense against bigger players and bigger people. For this season, I’m just looking to have a great season and team all around and improve,” says Vinson (wide receiver/ defensive back// Junior.)
“I’m pretty confident, especially in the younger players. We’ve had a lot of leaders that have stepped up and that have needed to, so I feel confident about that,” says Cook (corner back// senior.)
The Eagles open up the 2023 season on the road at St. James on August 25th.
Trinity
The Trinity Wildcats finished up last season with a 8-2 record in the regular season and then lost in the second round of the playoffs to Mobile Christian.
This season the Wildcats have a new Head Coach, that being Brian Seymore. Before taking the job at Trinity, Seymore was the Head Coach at Demopolis for six seasons.
Senior quarterback, Walker McClinton, says he’s excited for what Coach Seymore is bringing to the program.
“I think everyone is responding really good. I know everyone loves him and loves everyone that came with him too. They are real fun to be around and real energetic everyday, they always bring the energy,” says McClinton.
A big goal that Seymore has for this team is to still be playing football come Thanksgiving, but another thing he is looking for is for his team to play with physicality.
“I want our kids to be physical. I want them to play a physical brand of football, offense, defense, not run away from contact, and be aggressive…Show up everyday, work hard, take advantage or your reps. Like I said each day is an opportunity to get better. So work
ethic is a big thing and I also think being disciplined. I think disciplined football teams out there on Friday nights, they don’t turn the ball over, you don’t make costly penalties, those are the teams that are going to be successful. So if we can hang our hat on those three things, I feel like we could have a successful year,” says Seymore.
The Wildcats open up the 2023 season on the road at Booker T. Washington on August 25th.
