By Mark H. Stowers
Thursday night the Trojans will be bear hunting.
Mississippi Delta Community College Head Coach Tavares Johnson Sr. has his Trojans loaded for the Southwest Community College Bears as the bright lights of Jim Randall Stadium will be shining on the Moorhead Campus. Game time is 7:00 p.m.
The 2023 Trojans will feature Copiah-Lincoln Community College transfer quarterback Thalamus Marshall under center. The 6-foot, 3-inch, 180-pound sophomore will be relied upon to invigorate the Trojan offense with his arm and legs. But Coach Johnson will see what his bench consists of as well.
"I know that all three quarterbacks (freshman Stephen Winfield and Gentry product Troy Griffin) will play some role," Coach Johnson said.
On the defensive side, Coach Johnson is expecting the Bears to "run a lot of plays" as they try to up-tempo their offense.
"They run a lot of hurry-up offense. They try to run a lot of plays and put pressure on the defense and attack you down the field. They have a left-handed kid (redshirt freshman Jordan Mills) at quarterback who broke all kind of records in Arkansas."
But Coach Johnson knows who the winner on Thursday night will be.
"Whoever executes their game plan the best – number one. And then it boils down to fundamental football – blocking and tackling and taking care of the football – and whoever does that the best – and I believe we're going to do it because we are due – is going to win the ballgame."
The Trojans are "set in all three phases of the game" including defense and special teams.
"We're going to attack on all three phases. We don't have any time to wait. If the situation arises, we're going to go for it. If the situation arises it, we're going to punt or kick field goals," Coach Johnson said.
His offensive line is "more athletic" than last season and "they have more playing experience. I'm looking for our quarterback and running backs to set the tone for the game. I had the players rank each position. For example, I had the quarterback rank the offensive unit positions. I had every position do it and it's ironic that everybody had the same rankings. Running backs were number one, quarterbacks and offensive line tied at number two and receivers were number three," he said.
With Coach Johnson entering his second season, he knows his team is ready to make their mark and get to bear hunting.
"We care about playing for each other. It seems we've been going against each other for three months but it's only been since August 2nd. The kids are overdue and are tired of hitting each other. We're going to continue to do what we do. I'm very excited about it and I'm anxious to see what our offense and defense can do against somebody else on the field."
Coach Johnson gave a shout out to his hard working assistant coaches – Defensive Coordinator Deondri Clark, Offensive Coordinator Booker Chambers, Offensive Line Coach Jordon Meyer, Defensive Back Coach JaCarious Lucas, Special Teams Coordinator and Linebacker Coach Willie Collins and Running Backs / Kicker Assistant Coach Lane McGregor.
"I want to give a shout-out to my coaches who are doing a phenomenal job preparing themselves ready and preparing our players. The players have really responded and we're looking forward to getting on the field Thursday night."
The Trojans are loaded for bear and look to claim their limit and then some Thursday night. For more information on the Southwest CC Bears, click here.
To follow along with all the Mississippi Association of Community College Conference Athletics, click here.