Eric Spann felt pretty good Saturday afternoon.
The Aberdeen High School first-year head football coach had just experienced a series of emotions in his debut with the Bulldogs.
Aberdeen played well offensively, even though a couple of turnovers stopped critical drives. On defense, Aberdeen excelled with a pair of goal-line stands in the final quarter with the game on the line.
In the end, it was still a tie.
After Aberdeen made the critical stop and regained possession, one knee and 14 seconds off the clock would have meant victory. Instead, Forest poked the ball loose and recovered for a game-tying touchdown in the end zone.
The extra point failed and Aberdeen and Forest finished in a 6-6 tie at the New Hope Jamboree at Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium.
Still, Spann was happy. After all, he had finally made it.
For the first time in 16 years as a coach in Mississippi and Tennessee, the Smithville native was a head coach for the first time. The Bulldogs have 23 seniors and should be one of the favorites for the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 3A North State championship.
“This was a special day for me because it has been a long time coming,” Spann said. “It was pretty emotional. You always want to be a head coach. You want the challenge of building a program. In this case, it is maintaining a program because we have had a good amount of success in the last couple of years.”
Spann spent the past two seasons as the defensive coordinator under Mark Bray. In 2014, Aberdeen finished 10-4. The Bulldogs lost in the third round of the Class 3A playoffs.
“The transition has been smooth because I have been here and been around these kids the last two years,” Spann said. “It would be difficult if I was new to the community. For the most part, we have picked up where we left off with coach Bray. He was a veteran coach and a proven coach, so we have just tried to keep it going.”
The Bulldogs have 10 returning starters on defense, which is part of the reason there is a lot of optimism surrounding the program.
“Everything has gone really well,” said Aberdeen senior wide receiver/defensive back Jerrick Orr, a Memphis commitment. “Everybody knew coach Spann and really liked him. For the seniors, we have played together for a long time. Pretty much the whole starting lineup has been together for three years.
“We are shooting for a state championship, and we know we got the coaches in place to make that happen.”
Aberdeen had its defense in mid-season form Saturday. On offense, the Bulldogs have to replace key people, including Josh Williams, a three-year starter at quarterback. Williams was one of the state’s most electrifying players in the state as a runner and as a passer.
“Josh was really our leader,” Aberdeen senior defensive back/wide receiver B.J. Patrick said. “He did so many things that made us look better. I am really proud of (new quarterback) Tramonte (Prather). He is really growing every day as a leader. We trust and respect him. He is growing every day and that makes us better.”
Spann said any major changes to the program would take place after this large senior class graduates. His main concern is putting a plan in place to grow the junior high programs. The ability to have the junior high kids working together in the same direction as the junior varsity and varsity kids is important.
“Coach Bray really taught me a lot even though we were only together two seasons,” Spann said. “Athletics is very important to this community. Even though the school district has had some bumps in the road, things are getting better every day. The kids have an incredible work ethic and a desire to get better.
“We are really tapping into this. With such a large senior class, you don’t have three or four leaders. We have 20-plus leaders. Everybody has bought in and made this a great transition.”
The Aberdeen School District is still under conservatorship. When the ruling first took place three years ago, some minor sports were cut. Slowly, athletics have returned to normal. With Spann coaching football and Jaworski Rankin returning for his second season in boys basketball, it appears the major sports are in good hands.
Bray coached three seasons at Aberdeen after 23 seasons as head coach at Vardaman. Under Bray, the Bulldogs won 28 games.
“We are going for the gold ball,” Aberdeen senior wide receiver/defensive back Isiah McMillian said. “Aberdeen has always been a basketball school. For the seniors, we want to leave our mark in football too. We have won a lot of games lately but now we want more.
“We just have to work harder and be a little better.”
Spann was one three first-year coaches making his debut at Davis Wade Stadium. In Saturday’s opener, Josh Baty made his debut as Hamilton head coach. It was a tough one, as Hamilton dropped a 41-0 decision to East Webster.
In Saturday’s late game, new Starkville High School coach Ricky Woods made his debut against Grenada. Woods came to Starkville after a brief coaching stint in Tennessee. He is widely known for winning four state championships at South Panola.
“Any time you start a new season you are excited,” Woods said. “The kids have really bought into what we are trying to do. Fortunately, all of the assistants are back from a year ago, so the transition has been smooth. We are excited about getting started.
“Starkville is the type of program that can be a contender for a state championship every year. Our goal is to win and win big here. As a veteran coach, you are attracted to these types of jobs because of the expectations.”
Starkville returns four offensive starters and six defensive starters from last season’s 13-1 team. It lost to eventual state champion South Panola in the North State Class 6A championship game.
Saturday’s Starkville-Grenada wasn’t completed by press time due to two weather delays at the jamboree.
Scott Walters is a sports writer for The Dispatch. You can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @dispatchscott.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.