25 Teams in 25 Days: Stone Tomcats

WXXV’s 25 Teams in 25 Days continues and day number two takes us north up to Wiggins, home of Stone High School. The Tomcats have an extremely large senior class, but the underclassmen are set to make just as big an impact. Introducing you to the Stone Tomcats!

Locked in and ready to go, the Stone Tomcats have shown a lot of progression under third year Head Coach Jacob Aycock. Going from 3-7, to 6-6 with a first round playoff win, Aycock believes his first round of sophomores, now seniors are ready to lead them to victory.

“Those starters played that season, then played last year as juniors, and now we feel like our big senior class is ready to showcase what they’ve earned,” said Head Coach Jacob Aycock.

“First year he came in, we only had three or four months with him before we started the season, so I think us having him for a whole year and a good offseason summer, I think it helped up progress a lot as a team and as ourselves and as grown men, so I think that’s helped a lot for him and I think we’re going to do even better this year,” said senior offensive lineman Spencer Martin.

  18 seniors suited up for the Tomcats is a huge advantage, welcoming back a ton of speed, tacklers, and hard hitters.

“I think I make a big impact. I think my teammates can vouch for me,” said senior wide receiver and defensive back Jayden Collins. “I just do everything I can.”

“I think a huge strength is our running game and our offensive line,” said Martin. “We’ve grown a lot in the past couple of years.”

“Our defense,” said senior middle linebacker Brayden Williams. “We’ve got one of the best defenses in the south, if not the best, and our O-line has greatly improved. I believe they’re going to take us somewhere as well and the whole team as well with our attitudes and behavior. I think that’ll take us a long way as well.”

Those seniors aren’t the only names you’ll be hearing on the intercom over and over. Aycock says some of their strongest weapons this year are their underclassmen.

“I think just the confidence in our young guys,” said Coach Aycock. “I mentioned we have a lot of seniors, but the few young guys that are going to be on the field, it’s not because they have to be, but because they’ve earned that and they’re good enough to be on the field, so we’ll have a junior quarterback in Zander Howard and a sophomore running back in Ayden Green, and on the flip side, we’ll start a sophomore corner and we feel like he’s really ready for that.”

Junior Zander Howard will be returning as Stone’s starting quarterback. He may have had a hurried start last season, but just imagine how dangerous he’ll be knowing he’s got the gig.

“About a week before the season, we had stuff come up and we called him in and said, ‘Hey bud, here’s your time,’ and he even felt he wasn’t exactly ready, but he got those games under his belt, and by the time we got to district he did a really good job for us,” said Coach Aycock. “We’re excited about him. Having a summer leading in knowing that he’s the guy has helped him a lot with his focus honestly and his ability to become a better leader for us.”

“I think it’s a really good experience seeing him succeed because of us blocking for him,” said Martin. “We usually don’t get the props for anything, so I’m happy with it. If he can succeed, them I’m good.”

“Watching him day by day getting better and better, he’s got a good mentality and he wants it. As long as he wants it, he’ll keep getting better,” said Collins. 

“It’s amazing really because they’re really going to contribute. They contributed a lot last year, and this year will be an even bigger leap for them,” said Williams. “My job and our job as a defense is to get them better, so when they do play against other teams, we try to mimic them and play to the best of our ability to get them better.”

Every guy you’ll see in the blue and white has worked to be exactly where they are. They won’t be on that field just by coincidence, but because they earned it.

“That means to get it by any means possible. We’re in Stone County here, so it’s hard, so we’re going to get there and get it anyway possible. We’re going to get there. We’re going to state this year. I personally believe that, and the team believes that and we’re going to get there,” said Williams.

“It means something isn’t given to you,” said Collins. “You have to go get it.”

“We went 6-6 last year and I honestly think we can go all the way this year,” Martin said. “I think we just need to earn it. We’ve got to work for it, there’s no days off.”

Once August 29th hits, they’ll strive to earn that first win over Forrest County AHS, and every game after that.