Editor’s Note: Laurel, Northeast Jones, South Jones, and West Jones completed spring football in the past two-weeks. Here is the first of four stories on the thoughts of the local head coaches.

For the defending state champions, spring football’s main goal was looking for players who could provide leadership.

“We lost some great people from last year’s team who led by example and were great leaders,” said LHS head football coach Milton Smith.

Seeking replacements for those players will be a chore for Smith and his capable assistants.

“We lost ten players who signed scholarships and lost another five players who will also be hard to replace,” added Smith.

Smith has been working the hallways of his school seeking players since January. The Tornadoes had 75 players out for spring.

“We had kids walking the halls that are good athletes and we needed to get them out,” said Smith.

Smith’s recruiting effort paid off as he was able to add many new faces and says he was pleased with what he saw.

“We achieved our goals for the spring, and that was evaluating our new players in the program. The players and coaches worked hard. We will start our summer workouts in June, and I think then we will be able to tell even more about our personnel,” said Smith.

Laurel did not play in a spring game but did have an intra-squad game, which Smith said went well.

“We had the number one units facing off and it was about what I had expected,” said the former MSU defensive back.

Laurel (14-1) will play six home games this coming season as they will play host to Northeast Jones, South Jones, Wayne County, Collins, Biloxi, and Raymond. They will travel to West Jones, Quitman, NE Lauderdale, and Hattiesburg.

Coming Wednesday: Northeast Jones High School.