News 25’s 25 Teams in 25 Days: Stone Tomcats
The Stone football team made all kinds of history in 2022, but a lot has changed over the course of just one off-season, starting with a new head coach, but that doesn’t mean the expectations have changed for the Tomcats at stop number seven on News 25’s 25 Teams in 25 Days.
“When we first met him that day, people were skeptical obviously because he was a new coach. But I think after the first week, everybody had kind of like a moment where we all kind of like went in, and we kind of realized, this is our coach. We have to respect what he says and we have to listen and we have to trust him.”
“If you don’t have trust, then what is it? I mean it’s nothing. But I feel like he’s doing the best he can to get us better and to win.”
Head Coach Jacob Aycock said, “The main thing is, me coming in trying to sell them on a different vision – a little bit different vision – so meeting the kids, getting to know them and then them getting to learn my coaching style because everybody coaches a little bit different.”
Re-introducing Purvis native Jacob Aycock, formerly the Poplarville defensive coordinator, now Stone Head Coach as of four months ago. “We’re all about being the toughest team on Friday nights, and then I’ve also heard jokingly that it’s hard to win a championship if you don’t pull a guard and play good defense.”
Defense, certainly Aycock’s calling card, never allowing more than 12 points per game in his three years with the Hornets. As fate would have it, those Hornets eliminated by his new team in the third round of the 4A playoffs by way of a 32-28 comeback victory. “My time at Poplarville was special to me. We won a lot of football games in three years, played for a state championship. But that night specifically I stepped back, and I was shaking hands and going through the line and just saw the joy and excitement on those guys’ faces also to get to go to compete in a south state championship game, so that was special for me to see for those guys.”
After a fiery halftime speech by now Moss Point Head Coach John Feaster, the Tomcats erased a 10-point deficit by way of a second half shutout, allowing just 32 yards in the final 24 minutes. That was Stone’s first trip to South State in 31 years, resulting in a 12-point loss to Mendenhall. Offensive Guard/ Defensive Tackle Colin Varnado said, “At the time I think while we were playing the game, I think we were just playing a game just like another Friday night. I think afterwards we realized kind of how special it was to win that game. But during that 48 minutes we played, we were just focused on just another game.”
Defensive end Anderson Hickman said, “I just think about it all the time. It was just such a good run, and I just want to do it again.”
“These kids are hungry. I came in, and one of the first things we talked about was winning. You want to win, but then let’s back off and get to, how do we do that? What are our steps? What do we have to do every day in the weight room or in practice? And so, something that’s brought me excitement is how energized they are for another good season. They’re coming off success, and they want to keep that going.”
Stone also coming off its first district title in 28 years. The now 5A Tomcats posted an overall record of 9-3 last season, outscoring their opponents by an average of more than 17 points per game.
But a brand-new team on both sides of the ball, returning five starters on offense, including QB1 Connor Tice, and just one on defense, that’s Willie Breland.
Despite the inexperience, especially on defense, Aycock’s track record on that side of the ball speaks for itself. “Defensively, it’s just as much of a culture thing. I’ve worked with some really good coaches who have told me there’s teams who run a 3-4 that have won championships or a 4-2 or a 4-3 or a 5-2, so it’s more about the culture you build and the dominance you want to establish defensively.”
Aycock says he’ll be running a 4-2-5- on defense and then a pass-happy scheme on offense, known as the Gun-T.
The Tomcats bring back an 11-member senior class of 2024, now embracing its turn to pass the baton. “Leave something for the younger kids to build off of like we did the seniors last year because they were good leaders and they worked hard and I want to be like them.”
“It means something very special to me. It means that the seniors ahead of me were leaving me kind of like a legacy to keep going for them, so obviously I plan on winning district this year and going to South State and then even state this year, so it definitely feels like I need to pick up where they left off.”
Stone opens up the season at Biloxi for the Shrimp Bowl on August 25th, followed by what’s sure to be our Game of the Week in week 2 as Stone and Poplarville get together for a rematch of that instant classic, a game that was on the schedule before Aycock took the new job.
