News 25’s 25 Teams in 25 Days: Biloxi Indians
WXXV Sports Director Jeff Haeger had so much fun at the beach on day one of News 25’s 25 Teams in 25 Days, he went back on day two.
Between the Hard Rock and Golden Nugget is where we find Biloxi High School, fresh off its best district finish in more than a decade.
“It brings out the kid in all of us.”
“It feels amazing out here and the water feels good too.”
“I feel like it’s a good thing that we came out here to the beach. I mean it gives us something new. It gets the players more excited to be having fun out here. It builds the team chemistry a little bit more.”
Head Coach Katlan French said, “I was telling the coaches over there, I kind of want to get in the water. I didn’t bring a towel or anything so I’m not going to do it. Yeah, part of me does want to get out there and get after it with them, but then again I don’t want to get hurt either.”
Cannonballs and belly flops galore, it’s the end of summer Biloxi Beach Bash featuring one-on-one sand drills, route running, and even a few big man touchdowns.
Sixth-year Head Coach Katlan French says he’s never taken his team to the beach before, but it’s well deserved after a long week of joint workouts with Columbus High School, culminating with an epic tug-of-war win for the Indians. Middle linebacker/ defensive end Jayce Cummings said, “Instead of waiting to get better, we’re already getting better. It’s just exciting to meet new people, meeting new people who share the love of the game, who want to compete and who push their teammates, but us as well.”
Wide receiver/ strong safety Chase DeLaughter said, “I think it’s amazing. I mean we really did good against them, and it really showed us where we’re at against other teams.”
“You pick up your effort and you pick up your intensity when you’re facing someone you don’t know or another team or something like that, so you’re getting the very best out of your players, and so we felt that was a big contributor to helping us know where we are at this point.”
Historically speaking, the Indians are in a pretty good spot, fresh off their third trip to the playoffs in four years and their best Region 4 Class 6A record in 11 years at 5-2, 7-4 overall, capped off by a first-round post-season exit at the hands of Oak Grove. “We had a new quarterback come in. He stepped up. Zach did really good. He directed the offense, and that’s really what we needed was a quarterback.”
Quarterback Zach Marlin said, “It was my first year coming in, didn’t really know how it was going to go, and then especially after coming off our first game as a loss, I know some of the team must’ve thought it was going to be like another year before, but I’m really glad that we picked it up. We came together as a team.”
“We’re looking at making the playoffs four out of the five years, and then one of our biggest goals is to have a home playoff game. We came close to it last year. We were like two plays away from having a home playoff game last year, so that’s kind of the goal now. That’s kind of our new goal is to try to get a home game for the playoffs and see where we can go from there.”
The Indians haven’t hosted a playoff game since 2011, also their last playoff win, also their last district title.
But they certainly have the talent to end all three droughts, starting on offense with quarterback Zach Marlin, running back Jamir Haskin, and wide receivers Day-Day McGee and Chase DeLaughter. “I feel like we’re more explosive that we’ve ever been, and our athletes and our skill are faster and stronger, so I feel like we could be pretty exciting to watch.”
On defense, Big Red returning its leader of the secondary Bryce Hooker as well as the team’s leading tackler Jayce Cummings. “My favorite part about tackling – the hit, the contact, the sound of the boom! I love to bring the boom, and once that helmet is on, it’s like a gladiator match out there. I love it.”
Overall, the now 7A Indians returning four starters on each side of the ball as well as a senior class about 25 strong, the same bunch that won the eighth-grade championship for the Coast in 2019.
Now, it’s up to them to win big at the varsity level, to cement what’s already shaping up to be the best run of Biloxi football ever. “They’re a really good group. They’ve been a good group for years now, and yeah, we’re really excited about them.”
“We’ve always been playing together since seventh, eighth grade, and when we won that it was pretty cool. But yeah, we’ve always been together.”
“It means a lot deep down for all of us that we’re kind of in the history books of Biloxi pushing forward, and giving us a name more on the Coast and showing everybody that we’ve got it.”
Biloxi’s motto this year is a simple one: do your job.
The Indians kick off the 2023 season on Friday, August 25th at home against Stone for the Shrimp Bowl.
