The Tallulah Academy faithful have endured a long offseason since the Trojans walked off the field after suffering a loss in last year’s state championship. Only a week prior to a much-anticipated rematch of that game with Briarfield Academy to kick off the 2021 season Friday, the Trojans finally suited up again for what would be two preseason victories last week at home in Tallulah.
TA defeated the Porters Chapel Eagles in game one of a jamboree double-header Friday, before knocking off NE Baptist in game two later in the evening. TA Head Coach Bart Wood said the team’s first action in a game-type setting was already an improvement from the Trojans’ scrimmage with Prairie View a week earlier.
“I was very tickled with the improvement from last week to this week,” Wood said. “But, I hope the injury bug stops.”
Wood said his already young roster will likely see returning starter Paul Michael Machen back on the field for week one of the season after sitting out last week’s jamboree with a broken hand suffered in the Prairie View scrimmage. Friday’s jamboree also saw wide receiver Hayes Hopkins go down with a broken collar bone, but Wood said his recovery is going well.
“They said we’re looking at about four weeks for Hayes,” he said. “Which is amazing. He had surgery and had a plate put in, but he’s doing really well.”
Despite the injuries, Wood said Friday’s outing showed steps forward in his team’s progression ahead of a Friday’s rivalry game with Briarfield. Wood said this year’s team will have the added advantage of players not being forced to play both on sides of the ball as often, a trend regularly found on eight-man squads that can wear on players being forced to start on offense and defense.
“We’re playing a lot of kids one way, and that helps,” he said. “We’re going to wear people out. We have good enough athletes to do that and that’s going to help tremendously.”
Offensively, Wood said his team brings back only two starters, after losing its entire offensive line and two running backs to graduation, but praised the work ethic and improvement of both returning and new starters.
“All our kids have really stepped up,” he said. “Offensively, we lost six starters, out of eight. Dee Morgan has come a long way at quarterback. He sees the field a lot better. But, that’s the difference between a sophomore and a junior. We had a lot of experience last year, so that helped him, but this year, it’s his turn to step it up.”
With the preseason behind them, Morgan and company will get the chance to do just that Friday when TA hits the road to take on Briarfield.
