25 Teams in 25 Days: East Central Hornets

HURLEY, Miss. (WXXV) — The third day of WXXV’s 25 Teams in 25 Days segment takes us to East Central High School.

“We preach effort, attitude and toughness everyday,” East Central Head Coach Sam Huff said.

Effort. Attitude. Toughness.

Three words that say a lot about the 2025 East Central Hornets, a young team looking to bounce back under fourth-year head coach Sam Huff following a 2-8 2024 campaign.

“We lost a good bit of seniors,” Huff explained. “You know, we have nine seniors this year, but we have seven returners on offense and defense that have either started or contributed heavily last season, so we feel like that kind of gives us some experience coming back in.”

Things couldn’t be more different between both sides of the ball, with each player putting in the effort it takes to earn a spot on the gridiron. According to senior middle linebacker Trevor Wall, East Central’s defense could be the biggest key to its success.

“I think defense is definitely going to be our strength next year,” Wall said. “We’ve got a ton of returning players from defense, and I think we’re going to surprise a lot of teams on the Coast with our defense.”

Offensively, there’s been a lot of change and positive momentum.

“Our offensive is doing a lot more passing than normal, which is looking good,” Pacey Baria, who plays as both a safety and wide receiver, said. “We’re winning the 7-on-7’s, and we’ve got coaches that are doing really jobs of coaching us and telling us how to do it… really good routes we’re running.”

Not to mention, there’s competition at the quarterback position, with Kash Litton and Maddox Dunn both vying for the starting nod.

“We do have two young quarterbacks that are battling out right now,” Huff said. “The one that we feel like gives us the best chance of winning will be the one who starts.”

There’s still quite a few weeks left before those Friday Night Lights shine, but the Hornets have hit the ground running — from long summer workouts to quick practices during the final period of the school day. That’s where the attitude comes in.

“Well, summer went pretty good, everybody was doing the best they could really,” senior left tackle Jeffery Jackson explained. “Everybody showed up, we had a really good showing from everybody, really.”

“47 percent of those guys attended more than what was required,” Huff added. “We had a bunch that exceeded the expectations for summer workouts.”

“Our work ethic was a lot better than what it normally is,” Baria said. “We had a very high work ethic. Everybody wanted to do something, everybody wanted to do it with a passion.”

There’s a team competition throughout the summer as well for the coveted title of Baddest Hornet. It’s a long-standing tradition for the program, and it’s something that every football player dreams of.

“So Baddest Hornet is basically what the Hornet football team is all about,” Jackson explained. “We work all summer, get bigger, faster, stronger, show up the Baddest Hornet the week before school. You just give it all you’ve got.”

Little did Jackson know that he’d be named the Baddest Hornet for the second year in a row on Friday night. However, teammates like Baria could have predicted it.

“I feel like… I feel like Jeffery Jackson’s going to get it,” Baria predicted before the Baddest Hornet was announced.

Following a jamboree against Gautier, East Central will open its 2025 season against Greene County. The Hornets will start of the regular season taking on a few teams in higher classifications, but if anything, that shows their toughness.

“I think it’s going to prepare us a lot better, playing bigger schools, a lot more people, faster, bigger, stronger people,” Baria said. “It’s going to build us up, give us a lot better work ethic and make it better as a team.”

As the Hornets embrace effort, attitude and toughness, the goal remains simple in Huff’s mind.

“We’re just going to take it one game at a time.”