HOLLANDALE — Antoine Washington, an offensive tackle and defensive end, had a bitter taste in his mouth last season after his Simmons Blue Devils made it all the way to the MHSAA Class 1A State Championship game, only to fall 32-12 to Bay Springs.
The Blue Devils finished with a 13-1 record, but it is that one loss that still bothers Washington.
“We lost the state championship game. When you play at Simmons, the goal is always to win the gold ball and we came up short.
“We are going to do everything in our power to win it this year.”
The goal of a championship trophy remains the same to Washington and his teammates despite the fact that they will be working under a new head coach this season in Derrick Hooker. For the last two decades, Hooker had been the head coach of the South Delta football team. He is the ninth winningest active coach in Mississippi. Hooker replaces Taveras Johnson, who left Simmons this spring to be the head football coach at Mississippi Delta Community College. Johnson led the Blue Devils to three state championships at Simmons.
“Coach Hooker has come and done a great job for us,” Washington said. “Of course, he is a little different than Coach Johnson but everything here is pretty much the same.”
Washington said he and his teammates have been working hard all summer in prepation for the season which begins Sept. 2 against Leland. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Washington said he is about the same size as he was last year but has turned much of his fat into muscle.
“I have been playing football in Hollandale since I was six years old, and it has always meant a lot to play for my town and our fans. We still have a lot of work to do, but we know we can be great and make them proud,” he said.
On Tuesday, Washington and his teammates went on a field trip to Jackson State where they went and watched the football team practice. Afterwards, they received some words of encouragement from JSU head coach Deion Sanders.
“We asked Coach Sanders a couple questions, and then he told us that hard work pays off and that we need to be there for our teammates at all times,” he said.
