OXFORD — It wasn’t easy for the New Hope High School football team to take the field Monday for practice.
Four New Hope High students, including two senior football players, were involved in a car accident last Saturday. According to police reports, the vehicle ran off the road and flipped, ejecting all four. The football players were taken to the North Mississippi Medical Center Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Tupelo.
On Monday, New Hope had a one-hour walkthrough before Pickle released his players early and took the seniors to the hospital to visit their teammates.
“When you have two guys laying in the hospital bed that’s your age, hopefully it puts some perspective to you and let’s you know life can be taken from you just like that,” Pickle said. “It’s scary. I hope they learn from it and gain some understanding that life is short. If anything, it can be taken away at the drop of a hat.”
New Hope tried to find a way to play for their teammates Friday night against Oxford. The Trojans took an early lead, but the Chargers used a 21-point second quarter to take the momentum en route to a 31-13 victory in a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 5A, Region 1 game at Bobby Holcomb Field.
Pickle said one of the players is out of ICU and is in a regular room. He said that players is going to be transferred to Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson to receive therapy for and injury to his brain he suffered in the accident. The other player remains in ICU.
New Hope senior quarterback Thomas Stevens said he is really close with one of the injured Trojans and is a “good friend” of the other. He said he thought about his teammates the entire game, which made it hard to concentrate. But he said he knew he and his teammates had to keep their heads in the game and try to win for them.
“Our goal was to play for them and represent them,” Stevens said. “It makes you want to play harder. It was a pretty rough week.”
Senior defensive lineman Tae-Kion Reed wore No. 54 to honor one of his injured teammates.
The absence of the injured players forced the Trojans to shuffle their offensive line and cost them a backup at linebacker. Pickle said the losses of those players limited the team’s depth. As a result, starting right guard Bryce Braddock was moved to right tackle and Jaylen Johnson played right guard.
Even though they had their teammates on their minds, Pickle said his team responded well in practice.
“They came back in practice Tuesday very well and practiced well Wednesday,” Pickle said. “It’s still in the back of their minds. There’s no doubt about it. Anytime you’ve got somebody you go to school with and you go to practice with and you’ve known your whole life, it’s hard to put that behind you.”
After forcing a punt on Oxford’s first drive, New Hope (4-4, 1-3 region) took a 7-0 lead. On second-and-6, Stevens scrambled out of the pocket and weaved his way down to the goal line. His 9-yard touchdown with 5 minutes, 27 seconds remaining in the first quarter capped a 59-yard march.
“I really thought we were going to keep going,” Stevens said. “I thought it was going to be easy the next time. They
figured us out.”
The Chargers (5-3, 3-1) scored the next four touchdowns to take a 28-7 lead with 4:18 left in the third quarter.
Running back Hiram Wadlington scored on a 1-yard run and added touchdowns of 17 and 24 yards to give his team a 21-7 halftime lead. Wadlington had a game-high 182 yards on 23 carries. He left in the third quarter with an injury.
Lance Stewart picked up the slack and had 15 carries for 171 yards.
On New Hope’s first play from scrimmage in the second half, D.Q. Thomas intercepted Stevens to give Oxford the ball at the New Hope 39-yard line. The Trojans held and forced a turnover on downs after Stewart couldn’t convert a fourth-and-1 from the 8.
On New Hope’s next possession, Stevens connected with Tyran Reed, but he was hit and fumbled. Thomas recovered the turnover and scored on a 36-yard return.
“They started mixing up their coverages and blitzes, really just messing with us in our heads,” Stevens said. “They really weren’t doing anything different than we studied in film. They were showing one thing and doing another and throwing everything off.”
Stevens was 21 of 36 for 119 yards. He had seven carries for 36 yards. His 8-yard touchdowns early in the fourth quarter cu the deficit to 28-13, but Gray Jenkins’ 25-yard field goal put the game out of reach.
Pickle said the defense started arm tackling and the offense didn’t help itself with penalties.
“It’s a common theme all year with our guys,” Pickle said. “I guess it all falls back on me. Maybe we’re not doing something right as coaches. Every time we have a little adversity strike, it just seems like we crawl into the tank. I just don’t know.
“You’ve got to respond at some point. We’ve got to mature as a team and learn how to overcome some adversity. Until we do that, we’re never going to be a complete football team.”
Pickle tipped his hat to Oxford and said the Chargers did everything they needed to do to win. He didn’t feel like the absence of the two injured players affected the game. He said it came down to blocking, tackling, and making plays.
“This world is rough, and it’s not getting any better,” Pickle said. “There are a lot of things these kids have out there now that they get their hands on and they don’t see past the second and don’t see past the minute. That’s tough on any kids to have to go through something like that.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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