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SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — On paper, Huntington’s 2025 season doesn’t jump off the page after a 3-7 year.
Fast forward to the Raiders second season under head coach John Simon, and there’s a different perspective.
Former Grambling coach John Simon named Huntington football coach
“We’re doing more conditioning before practice, conditioning after practice to prepare our guys for a fourth quarter fight. I think last year we were more focused on the details and discipline of the game then doing our assignments. We’re more confident in the guys knowing the assignments this year, so now our focus is going to be on finishing games,” Simon said.
Simon says the foundation is stronger than when he arrived, built around the program’s motto called P.R.E.S.S., which stands for Purpose, Respect, Effort, Service and Sacrifice.
“That speaks to who we are. When life gets hard, we tell them to press, when school gets hard, press. So, when it comes to football, when football gets hard, we want them to press and just remember what the acronym stands for. It’s important for our kids and for us who we are as a program and the direction we’re headed,” Simon said.
That culture is being led by a group of around 30 seniors, including all-district linebacker Braydon Cummings.
“I believe we could take another step forward because of Coach Simon, he’s really been putting a lot of effort in the team, new equipment, having us out here every day working on new things, learning new things,” Cummings said.
He continued, “We’ve really been putting that work in, a lot of sweat, a lot of blood, even a couple of tears. I think we can accomplish a lot this year.”
With that experience, Huntington believes it’s ready to take the next step.
“It allows us to challenge them. It allows us to be harder on them. It allows us to hold them to a higher standard because we do have an older bunch that has the experience, so we don’t have to focus on the X’s and O’s anymore. We can focus on the details and discipline,” Simon said.
Three Huntington football players to continue careers at college level
Huntington opens the season at home against Calvary Baptist on September 3. Kick-off is set for 7 pm.
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