Players of the Pine Belt: FCAHS offensive line

BROOKLYN, Miss. (WDAM) - The game hasn’t grown old just yet for Larry Dolan who enters his 34th season coaching high school football, 26 of those spent in Brooklyn where he led Forrest County Agricultural to the 2013 state championship.

“I’ve been doing it a long time and you get this far along and I’ve always said if I don’t get that feeling, little butterflies on your stomach, then it’s probably time to get out,” Dolan said. “Every year it happens, you’re riding home one night after practice and all of a sudden you say, ‘Oh man, we’re fixing to play.’”

Dolan returned to Forrest County for his second stint last year, guiding the Aggies to their first winning season since 2017.

“We’re winning games now,” said senior left guard Bryce Dunnam. “Practices are way better, everything’s just way better with him here.”

“He teaches us more than just football,” said senior left tackle Phil Jackson. “He teaches us how it’s going to be in the real world after football. Teaches us how to be a man.”

Forrest County’s offensive line has taken after the head coach – smart, tough, leaders.

The four seniors – Dunnam, Jackson, Walker McCoy and Ethan Cagle – will set the tone on offense.

“I think in Mississippi you gotta run it,” Dolan said. “And that’s what we want to do and that’s probably what we are most capable of doing. We got some linemen and we got a few big guys. Our strength probably is our offensive line and our defensive line. We got some big athletic kids there that we’re expecting a lot out of. We’re going to kind of go as they go.”

“Makes us step up and take control of the team, especially the offense,” Cagle said. “We’ve all been playing for a pretty good while.”

And they want to end their high school careers on an emphatic note – that’ll start at the line of scrimmage.

“We want to hit them in the mouth first,” Jackson said. “Bring it to ‘em.”

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