Morgan County enters its 2022 season with a large senior class. The Bulldogs have 15 seniors returning.
The MCHS class of 2022 has been through a lot since beginning their careers with the program. By the time their senior season is over, this group will have played for two head coaches, with two years each under Bill Malone and Clint Jenkins. They’ve also endured the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and almost didn’t have a sophomore season.
Regardless, the Bulldog seniors of 2022 remain ready to play their final season with high expectations. According to linebacker/fullback Nymh Carrera, his goal is to help MCHS win a region title.
“I feel like this year, as a team, we want to be at the top of our region,” Carrera said. “For myself, I want to go in and be the best teammate I can be. Hopefully, I can make a difference and have a great senior season. That’s all that matters to me.”
Senior defensive tackle Jonathan “JB” Butler agreed with Carrera’s sentiment.
“We’ve come in, been working hard, and want to win the region,” Butler said. “I want to get more wins this year as well. I also want to earn All-Region or All-State honors.”
The Bulldogs went 4-6 last season but made it to the GHSA Class AAA state playoffs. They experienced a lot of growing pains in year one under Jenkins, which is expected of a team that goes through a coaching change. However, they are hoping to get better in year two and have adjusted to the new system under Jenkins.
Carrera acknowledged he’s seen a “big change” in the program since last fall.
“Last season, we were getting used to the way coach Jenkins did things,” Carrera said. “The players that are returning and even the ones who are new are showing good effort so far. They have really bought in. He’s also built great relationships with us. Now we feel like we can really all trust each other to grow more and more.”
The 5-foot-9, 200-pound, two-way player added that “effort level” has risen throughout the team in year two with Jenkins.
“I feel like the effort is one of the major things that is different between last year’s senior class (and ours),” Carrera said. “Last year when we would do sprints, we didn’t want another one. However, this year, we do. On defense, we were asking for another play earlier today at practice. Maybe two more plays. Just so we could get used to the offense. We wanted to keep running, running and running. The effort level is high.”
Both Carrera and Butler want to get the most out of their seasons. However, so do other players such as inside linebacker/left guard Ashton Brannon and punter/kicker Nolan Harris.
Harris highlighted that he’s seen a lot of grit out of this year’s squad.
“There’s a lot of toughness and non-stop effort from this team compared to last year,” he said. “It was a lot harder for us (last year) because we had a new coaching staff coming in. It was a little wishy-washy with some of the players, but now, everyone’s bought in. It’s great to see everyone putting in a full effort and getting better as a team.”
Harris is slated to have a big season as a specialist for Morgan County. He’s received several offers from Division I schools and wants to continue his football career in college.
Brannon wants to leave a big impact on the program during his senior season, too.
“This year it feels more special. We feel more like a family,” Brannon said. “We’re putting it all on the line this year. There’s not a play where we don’t go hard. There isn’t a play where we don’t work together.
“Even when we make mistakes—every one of us does— we help each other up. We do our best, but if we mess up, the next time we get it right.”
Brannon is part of an offensive line unit that lost both starting tackles, Dominic Frazzitta and Chance Reid, from last season. He’s seen a lot of progression from the younger guys in the offseason and expects a few of them to step up on the field this fall.
He singled out Jamari Mundy for making great strides since spring camp.
“Mundy is a true freshman for us. He’s just coming up from the middle school,” Brannon said. “He’s learning the plays and has performed well so far. He can read a defense, which was unexpected. He can read the defense in the blink of an eye and know how to react. He plays as hard as he can, ball to ball, and whistle to whistle.”
Brannon added that he also enjoys going up against skill players such as Jacere Cooper and TJ Thompson.
“Those guys are electrifying. Those guys make me smile and go harder and harder,” he said. “There’s not nothing I wouldn’t do for those guys. They make me smile. Also, our quarterback, Talan (Fuller), I would give my life up for that man.”
Cooper, who led the Bulldogs in rushing last season, is also ready to see his team shine in 2022.
“We have a bunch of leaders this season, even the freshmen are being leaders as well. They also tell us seniors what we need to work on,” Cooper said. “We’re following his (Jenkins’) plan. Last season, we didn’t really know him, but we knew what he was trying to do. And this year, we just see it. We’re all following it.”
Jenkins appreciates the effort he’s seen out of this team so far, especially from his seniors.
“Our mantra this year is ‘right now.’ We’ve got good, young kids coming into the program. We’ve got a great ninth-grade class,” Jenkins said. “A lot of people are saying we’ve got really great years coming up, but the challenge for our kids is winning now.”
He added that the “buy-in” has been well received by his players.
“It’s all about attitude and effort,” Jenkins said. “I think they understand the expectations. Our coaches have done a good job as well. Football is a relationship game first and that’s the piece. They need to trust us.
“Going back to our mantra, I told the guys before fall camp that all we have is right now, whether it’s in the weight, or this rep, this practice. It’s what God gives us. We’ve got right now. So, our deal for the season is let’s do it right now.”
Jenkins also compared this year’s Bulldogs theme to the Rocky movies.
“The saying in the Rocky movies is, ‘There’s no tomorrow.’ Right now is what we have and we want to take advantage of that,” Jenkins said. “That’s been our thing this offseason.”