By Jamie Wachter / Sports Editor
The Meridian Star
MERIDIAN — Following a gut-wrenching loss to division rival Newton County, West Lauderdale coach Bryan Miley was looking for a way to refocus the Knights.
Enter a lunch box.
In the 3-2 defeat to the Cougars on Dec. 17, Miley felt the Knights were overconfident and as a result had been outhustled, outlasted, outplayed — the three tenants West's soccer team prides itself on. As a result, he put the Knights — who face St. Stanislaus in the Class 4A boys soccer state championship game today at Clinton High School, starting at 11:30 a.m. — back to work, added a visual reminder and the rest is history.
"It just hit me one night," Miley said. "We try to outhustle, outlast and outplay everybody all year, that's our motto. I believe that if you don't have to coach enthusiasm and if you don't have to coach hard work, you can be a championship coach in anything you coach. If you can get the guys to give you the right kind of effort. And I'm just trying to give them something that reminds them, something they can see, something they can be proud of.
"It's just something to remind us of who we are and what we're all about."
What the Knights (14-2-1) have been about since has been winning games, rolling off seven straight in reaching the title game where they will face the South State champion Rock-a-Chaws (13-5-1).
"That was really the turning point of our season," Miley added about the loss to Newton County and subsequent addition of the lunch box. "We've been on a roll.
"Nobody expects us to win. Nobody gives us a chance, and we like that role. We're the underdogs. We're going to go down there, and I promise you, they'll know they played somebody."
Added senior mid Alex Young: "It represents what we want to do: Go to work. Finish it off."
It also has helped inspire the Knights.
"It has shaped our mentality as a team," senior mid and team captain Nate Hodges said. "The mentality of this team now is dedication, hard work, all the good things that you hear about teamwork and what it does for individuals. We come out here and go to work. That's our mentality.
"Everyday one of the seniors takes it home and everyday we bring it to practice where we can see it, and it's just a constant reminder of the tenacity we need to bring in the practice and in the games."
That tenacity and willingness to go to work has come after the Knights bought in.
All 22 Knights have signed the lunch box. The team has added a list to the bottom, with a checkmark added for every playoff win. Each West player even rededicated himself with a signed contract that is carried inside.
"At first, I started laughing," senior fullback Joey Lawn said. "I thought it was pretty funny.
"But once he started talking about it, and how they used to do it back in the day, I understood where he was coming from and I thought it was a great idea."
Added senior fullback Adam Hicks: "When he first showed it to us, I didn't know what to expect. I thought it was kind of funny.
"Then he told us he made it because we were going to bring a lunch and go to work, so I kind of got it after that. And thought it was a pretty good idea because we do go to work against most of the teams we play because they're pretty good."
That signed contract included promising to give every last ounce, every degree, of energy the Knights have. To give 212 degrees.
"I just said, 'Guys, if you'll just give me a little bit extra effort,'" Miley added. "At 212 (degrees), water boils and boiling water is enough to push a steam locomotive. Just that little extra degree, that one extra degree, that little extra degree of effort.
"Going to work. Hard work. Outhustle, outlast, outplay. Those are our mottos."
Added senior mid Dylan Shirley: "We've all signed, basically a contract, that says we'll give our 100 percent — actually it says 212 degrees.
"Everybody give their best to work their hardest and we'll get to where we're going. And we're there now."
Even the lunch box itself, has seemed to give a little extra. At least that is what some of the Knights believe.
"We've carried it in every one of our playoff games, and I kind of feel like it helped us out in those games, helped us win," Lawn said.
Added Hicks: "After we got it, we seemed to play better. I guess, because, it made us more of team because we're all working together toward the same goal and that's to win state."
The lunchbox has clearly become part of the team, a source of pride that links the individual players together. After all, the lock and chain that keeps the lunch box closed includes 22 links, one for each Knight.
"It symbolizes the unity, the bond between the team," Shirley said.
Added Miley: "If we play together as a team, we can't be broken."
Or beaten.
