At Stanhope Elmore, the football season last year left much to be desired. Under coach Hunter Adams, the Mustangs are hoping to turn things around this season and prove to themselves and their community that they can compete with the best of the best.
“We did some really good things,” Adams said. “But we left some meat on the bone. There was potential, had some things (gone) certain ways for us, (we might have been) a 7-2 or 8-3 team. Injuries at critical times hurt us in Region play.”
Even with some uncontrollable factors hindering the Mustangs toward the end of last season, they consistently won smaller battles in the way they played.
“Overall, as far as the effort that we played with, the physicality that we played with, the discipline that we played with last season, all those things were positive,” Adams said. “We led all of 6A and 7A in rushing, averaging 400 yards a game on the ground last year. That’s a physical identity that we want to keep and that we want to keep and that we take pride in.”
Key running back Arthur McQueen — the most decorated rusher in Stanhope Elmore’s history – graduated after last season. This year, Damarrian Barnes, another key rusher from last season, is set to take on the mantle of running back number one.
The Mustangs return nine of 11 starters on defense this year, including senior cornerback Joidaden “Jay” Stone and junior defensive tackle Dominic Sager. With so much experience returning in the backfield, Stanhope Elmore expects to be a powerhouse on defense this year only promoting their identity of a physical, no-nonsense team.
“I’m excited about the potential of that (defensive) group,” Adams said. “They took some lumps early last year because we were not returning that much experience. But they improved over the course of the season, especially in the secondary, and played really well. And it’s shown through this summer with the way we’ve executed in our competition days.”
After the struggles and obstacles of last season, this Mustang football team is ready to come out and prove all they’ve known — they can compete with the best teams in the Class 6A Region 2 and make it to the playoffs. Until then, Adams and Stanhope Elmore are taking summer workouts day by day.
“I feel like we’re winning a lot of days this summer,” Adams said. “We want to keep stacking those days in fall camp, we want to come out and start the year strong. Stay healthy, stay focused, make a really good push. We belong back in the playoffs this year.”
