Coward Era Ready to Roll for Wolves
The 2024 season saw the Wolves finish with an 8-5-2 overall record and for the third straight season they qualified for the NJCAA Region 23 Quarterfinals. However, the season finished with a 1-0 loss on the road at Gulf Coast. The 2025 season will see the Wolves have a veteran squad with plenty of returners coming back from last season but will also feature several new faces including a new head coach as JT Coward, who has been the assistant for the last three seasons, was promoted to lead the squad. Coward said he is excited about the upcoming season and what his squad is capable of once it starts.
"We are returning a good bit of last year's team with about seven or eight guys that were consistently in our starting group last year and they are all healthy and ready to go, so our expectations are pretty high knowing that," stated Coward. "The goal this year is to go out there and compete for a conference championship and being one of the top teams in the league, so I'm looking forward to watching the guys go out there and accomplish that."
The 2025 squad features 27 players with 12 returning sophomores along with 15 incoming freshmen. Sophomores for the Wolves include Jaime Duran (Madison), Lucas Giacomini (Newcastle, England), Ethan Sharpe (Bradford, England), Hudson McIntyre (Brandon), Alvaro De La Torre (A Coruna, Spain), Yohan Bedoya (Bogota, Colombia), Finley Sugg (Southampton, England), Braxton Williams (Flowood), Robin Feliciano (Carthage), Harrison Willsey (Starkville), Aden Lowery (Pearl), and Ethan Barnes (Port Orange, FL).
Coward said this year's squad will benefit greatly from having this group of returning players who represent a lot of returning goal scoring for the Wolves.
"Obviously you can't win games if you don't score goals, so it's nice to know as a coach that we are bringing back our top few goal scorers from last season with Alvaro, Yohan, and Hudson," said Coward. "We also have our two English guys returning on the backline in Lucas and Ethan who were solid for us all last season as well as our goalkeeper Jaime coming back. That trio in the back as well as the trio in the front is a nice combination for us to have this season."
The incoming freshmen include Adam Hood (Hattiesburg), Matthew Trisdale (Brandon), Cooper Hammons (Richland), Brayden Bridges (Clinton), Caden Walley (Madison), Riley Turner (Madison), Erick Martinez (Clinton), John Ellis Montgomery (Vicksburg), Alonso Albasini (Gautier), Carson Phillips (D'Iberville), Jeffrey Roth (Flowood), Blaine Collins (Brandon), Lucas Tyler (Ocean Springs), Charles Williams (Richland), and Justin Singleton (Clinton). Coward said he really likes this group and what they will bring to the squad this season.
"Erick Martinez is a forward that has really been impressive in the preseason and has shown off an ability to finish scoring chances. He is going to be an exciting player to watch and he's really good around the box with both of his feet," said Coward. "I think Cooper Hammons is going to see a lot of minutes for us out on the wings. He is great at crossing and striking the ball. Brayden Bridges is super athletic and can cover lots of ground and go win balls in the air, so I could see him pairing well with our returners on the back line."
The Wolves schedule features four preseason ranked opponents including No. 8 Pearl River, No. 12 Gulf Coast, No. 13 Jones, and No. 19 Hinds. Coward says having depth will be key to his squad having a good showing against all their opponents this season
"It is super important to have depth in our league especially because we play so many games in a short period of time. You also can have injuries pop up at any time, so it's important to have that next man up mentality and I think that we have the talent off the bench when we need it," added Coward. "I have preached to the boys all preseason how you must have a full roster completely bought in and committed to win a conference championship.
Coward said success for this year's squad looks very simple for him.
"Coming into my first year I am trying to set a standard and develop a culture for our program and let the players know that you will be judged off the wins and losses, but that isn't all we're focused on," stated Coward. "We are going to be defined by hard work and the type of character we have on and off the field as well as in the classroom. I want to make our players not only good athletes but also great young men who are successful after their two years here."
The Wolves start the season on the road against Wallace State Hanceville on Tuesday, August 26 and have their home opener against Southwest on Tuesday, September 16 against Southwest.