Members of the West Lauderdale football team do sprints following a workout Monday morning at the school’s practice field.

West Lauderdale defensive end Hays Perkins remembers what he saw back on Nov. 10.

The Knights, having advanced to the second round of the MHSAA Class 4A postseason, were on the wrong end of a blowout at the hands of eventual state runner-up East Central. The scoreboard said 52-6, but that wasn’t what stood out the most about the Hornets.

“They didn’t give up,” Perkins recalled. “They weren’t tired at all. That drive and mentality, they wanted to be the best, and they wouldn’t be denied. And that’s what we’re trying to be.”

That’s what the West Lauderdale coaches have been preaching to their players all throughout summer conditioning. It’s what they reminded their players of right before having them do sprints to cap off a Monday-morning workout. It’s going to remain a theme leading into fall camp if head football coach Brock Clay has his way.

“The biggest thing there, if you can ever take a blessing out of a loss, is that we kind of took that into the offseason with us,” Clay said. “Just the mentality those kids had, the determination, the drive. It wasn’t that they were that much more talented than we were, it was just the fact that they played like there were 15 men on the field at all times. That’s been our offseason push, to get to that point where nobody shows weakness, nobody shows tiredness, whether you’re on or off the field.”

How do you do get there? 

“That’s a great question,” Clay said. “If I could answer it, I would probably make a million dollars writing books, but we’re just trying to do it with repetition and drilling it into the kids.”

Ultimately, that mentality is what wins games on Friday nights in the fall, Perkins said, and it starts with making sure you show up to summer workouts and get into playing shape instead of waiting until the fall to take care of business.

“You can’t miss practice, and you have to listen to your coaches and do what you’re told,” Perkins said of what it takes to get to East Central’s level of mental toughness. “During those sprints, we had guys throwing up and wanting to quit, but you can’t. You have to get your body to where it needs to be.”

Senior defensive back TJ Hersey agreed, saying that summer sets the tone for the entire season. While doing those sprints at the end of practice may be difficult, the extra work pays off during games.

“It’s extremely hard,” Hersey said. “You just have to stay focused and get the job done. If we all fight as one, we’ll be alright.”

In addition to instilling the right mindset, Clay said the other main focus of summer workouts is to get as much of the conditioning work done as possible.

“That way, when the season starts, it’s wide open and we’re able to focus on practice instead of getting into shape to practice,” Clay said. 

It’s also the time for senior leaders to begin to step up, and senior defensive lineman Luke Lott said he’s hoping to leave a lasting impression on players younger than him.

“As a senior, whether you’re playing or not, you set the tone,” Lott said. “No matter how the season goes, we have to continue the dynasty at West Lauderdale, and the best way to do that is to show your worth as a senior and pass it onto the younger guys.”

The good news is this senior class is bigger in number than recent ones and is also close with one another.

“There isn’t a group I wish I was with other than these guys,” Lott said. “ This is probably the biggest group of seniors we’ve had since I was in the seventh grade, and I couldn’t be closer to anyone else.”