News 25’s 25 Teams in 25 Days: Bay High Tigers

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. (WXXV) — Motivation comes easy at Bay High, where the Tigers are coming off a not-so-good season in 2022, on the back of what was a really good season in 2021.

“One thing that I had to do in this off-season is remember that progress is not necessarily a straight line, and sometimes there’s the old saying of either you win or you learn, and we did a lot of learning this season,” said Bay High head football coach Jeremy Turcotte. “They want to make amends for the disappointing year that we had last year.”

Non-linear would be a good way to describe Bay High’s 2022 season, starting with a mark of 2-1, before dropping six straight games – three by single digits – to close out a forgettable run that could’ve sent the Tigers to the playoffs for the third year in a row, for the first time in program history.

Instead, they’re taking a long hard look in the mirror.

“Most of the time year in and year out around here, the most dangerous team on our schedule is the Bay High Tigers,” said Turcotte. “And we suffer a lot of self-inflicted wounds, not to take anything away from any of our opponents, but football is a game of manage your house and eliminate mistakes, eliminate mistakes, eliminate mistakes.”

Bay High’s 2-7 record, good for the fewest wins since 2018, and the 0-4 tally in Region 8-4A, the first winless district slate since 2019.

Compare that to the 2021 Tigers, who hosted their first playoff game and won their first playoff game since 2012.

Everyone agrees – a lack of togetherness was the culprit.

“Discipline, for sure the discipline we had that season,” said Bay High senior H-back/outside linebacker Benny Williams. “There was no talking back to coaches, nothing like that. Everybody was locked in, like even people that didn’t get in, everybody was just locked in. That’s what we need this year.”

“Bad on blaming each other,” said Bay High senior offensive tackle and 4-Star Stanford commit Ziron Brown. “We didn’t have no discipline. We would always talk down on each other instead of picking each other up like 2021, when we finally went to the playoffs that year, we weren’t doing the stuff that we were doing last year. They were picking people up, not dragging them down.”

“If you’ve got every part of the vehicle running well, then the vehicle is going to perform,” said Turcotte. “But if you get one spark plug not firing or one piece of the engine out of whack, then you’re not going to go very far even if you’ve got a Ferrari.”

Ahead of his fourth season at the helm, Turcott says he went back to a stick shift – or – back to the basics.

“We’re going to get better at less,” said Turcotte.

“We’re fixing to start running a certain amount of plays,” said Brown. “We’re going to stop running so much and just limit it to a certain amount, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

“It’s like NFL practices, like it’s getting harder on us, but he’s pushing us to get better,” said Williams.

“What does your offense look like when it’s clicking on all cylinders?,” asked WXXV Sports Director Jeff Haeger.

“Oh, we’re excellent, said Brown. “We look like the New Orleans Saints. For real, for real.”

On that side of the ball, the Tigers are returning at least eight starters, including third-year starting quarterback Xander Ladner, running back Jaylen Antoine, and wide receiver Avery Harris – all Class of ’25.

“Last year, we had a sophomore snapping to a sophomore handing to a sophomore, and now they’re all juniors,” said Turcotte.

And then of course, there’s Brown and his 14 Division I offers holding down the O-Line.

“He’s an offensive lineman, but he plays like he’s on the defensive line,” said Williams.

“I’ve had to kick Ziron Brown out of the weight room more than I can remember,” said Turcotte. “He’s just a big, likable kid, unless you line up across from him, and he is as nasty as I’ve ever seen in my entire coaching career.

“It just happens, I don’t know,” said Brown. “Once it’s time for that time, I just get locked in.”

On the other side, Williams – last year’s sack leader – anchors a defense that returns five starters.

“I’m ready to eat,” said Williams. “I’m ready to eat.”

Overall, The Tigers feature 16 seniors, paving the way for the biggest Bay High roster in the Turcotte era.

This year, every player has a matching wrist band. On one side, it says, ‘Love Each Other.’ On the other, it says, ‘Go Get Paid.’

“Let’s go get paid,” said Williams.

“It doesn’t matter how hard we work inside these four walls,” said Turcotte. “If you don’t go out and demand to be paid on Friday night, it doesn’t matter.”

“We put all that work in from Monday through Thursday,” said Brown. “We’re not fixing to just – it’s time to get paid. We’re not fixing to just put all that work in for no reason. We actually feel like we can go win something this year, so let’s go do it.”

Bay High opens up the season on August 25 at Resurrection Catholic, following Friday’s jamboree at Hancock, where the two schools will come together for a pregame ceremony to mourn the losses from the tragic after-prom shooting in April.

JV starts at 6 p.m. followed by varsity at 7 p.m.