MAYFIELD, KY (WSIL) -- Football is a way of life in Mayfield, Kentucky. The program has won twelve state titles over the years. Have been to the state championship nine out of the last ten years, runner-up for three straight seasons. These Cardinals are hungry and are looking to make room in the trophy case for state championship number thirteen.
“We’ve got to have guys step up,� Mayfield Head Football Coach Joe Morris said. “We lost, only had two returning starters on offense. We lost an all-state quarterback, an all-state receiver and lost four of our five offensive linemen up there so all those guys will be new. I love their work ethic. They come out here and work hard every day.�
“We do have our leading rusher back in Kylan Galbreath who rushed for over seventeen-hundred yards last year so we’re expecting a big year out of him.�
“Kylan can’t do it without those guys up front. We’ve got a lot of new guys, new faces up front but they work hard. I’m really excited about them and I think they are going to get the job done.�
“We’re young but we’re are going to give you everything we’ve got,� Mayfield junior linebacker Jax Rogers said. “It’s going to be a dogfight and we’re going to give you everything we’ve got every play.�
“There’s no me guys,� Morris said. “They don’t care who gets the credit. We just went to get touchdowns and stop them. We don’t care who makes the tackle because that’s what this game is. This game is a team game, it takes all eleven guys out there working as one. Nobody gives, they are humble, nobody cares who gets the credit.�
Over the course of a decade, you are going to have to replace a quarterback or a marquee player and there tends to be a drop-off but that’s not the case with Mayfield, so what’s the secret recipe?
“I just think it’s an expectation to be great around here man,� Rogers said. “The guys below, the incoming freshmen look up to those seniors so they know it’s an expectation to win so they are looking up to it so they know what to do when they can jump in, when it’s their time. It makes them ready.�
“I don’t know,� Morris said. “Our guys expect to win. Our community expects to win. Our coaches expect to win. We’ve had a lot of people leave over the years and I’ve heard itover my whole career, ‘no way we replace that guy�, ‘how are you going to replace that guy� and we’ve always had people step up and get the job done. I think our kids play hard, they trust us, our coaches do a good job of putting our players in the best position.�
Monday was the first day of football practice in the state of Kentucky. Games start September 11, not much time to get ready but the Cardinals look sharp on day one.
“It was really good,� Rogers said. “Everyone was doing what they were supposed to. Flying around to the ball, doing things the right way so I think it’s going to be really good. I think we are going to be a great team this year.�
Winning is an attitude. It’s a mindset and it’s something this program takes very seriously.
“Everyone around here expects us to be great. The whole town expects us to win. We don’t want anything less than a state championship around here. Anything less is a disappointment.�
