Players of the Pine Belt: West Jones senior QB Marlon Lindsey

SOSO, Miss. (WDAM) - The rain put a damper on high school football practices around the Pine Belt his week.

Luckily for the West Jones Mustangs, they got most of their work done in the spring and summer.

“We’ve been working for a long time,” said senior quarterback Marlon Lindsey. “We’ve been in the weight room since December. Then we started in the spring, started going out, going over a bunch of stuff. Then this summer we’ve been coming up here every day, getting better.”

The grind never stops in Soso.

The Mustangs are constantly reminded of their goal each time they walk in the locker room, the 2020 state championship banner hanging near the doorway.

Seniors like Lindsey are going to play a major role in West Jones’ success. After a couple years at quarterback, Lindsey’s growing more comfortable as a leader.

“It’s just unbelievable,” Lindsey said. “I was just in seventh grade, now I’m a senior starting quarterback, got big things ahead of me. We got a pretty good team this year. We got a couple guys stepping up, playing some big spots on offense and defensive side of the ball.”

West Jones will be tested right out of the gate.

The reigning Class 6A state champions Madison Central comes to Soso on Friday at 7:30 p.m. to kick off the season.

“It’s going to be great for us,” Lindsey said. “It’s going to help our team out a lot playing a 6A team like that for the first game of the season. We’re going to learn a lot from mistakes we make on film. They’re big, fast, they move quick. They’re probably going to be the best team we play all year.”

It can only help prepare the Mustangs for a brutal region 3-5A which they’ll look to defend this year.

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