By James Pugh
Mount Olive saw an immediate rise in its program with the hire of Dante Durr in 2016. In Week 1 of the season, Durr’s first as head coach, the losing streak that plagued the school’s program for 16 games came to an abrupt end with a 40-16 win over West Lincoln.
“Last year was a rebuilding year for us,” said Durr. “But I felt we were successful overall.”
Durr and Company finished the season with three more wins, including two in Region 4-1A.
Mount Olive missed out on postseason play by a single game in 2016, finishing in fifth place behind Sacred Heart.
It’s been six years since the Pirates have seen postseason play since its state title win over Durant in 2010. Durr hopes to change that in his second season as head coach.
“Our goal this year is to make the playoffs and compete for a state title,” Durr said. “We have eight returning starters on defense, and eight on offense. Our guys have played together for a while now, so we are looking to do some big things and surprise some teams this year.”
Mount Olive opens the season against West Lincoln in a road game on Friday, August 18.
One major change in its Region 4-1A layout is the departure of Bogue Chitto and the arrival of East Marion. East Marion dropped in classifications during the off-season from 2A to 1A and will bring with them four-star running back Jarveon Howard.
Offense
A core group on offense that shattered the program’s 16-game losing streak last season returns this year for Mt. Olive. Leading the band of eight returning starters is senior quarterback Latravious McNair. As a junior, McNair threw for 706 yards and rushed for another 983. He finished with 18 touchdowns on the offense and a pick-six on defense.
“We have our quarterback returning, who is getting looks from East Central, JCJC and Louisiana-Lafayette,” said Durr. “McNair passed and rushed for close to 2,000 yards last season. We also have Austin Hunt back. We moved Hunt from fullback to guard [in the off season]. He will also be one of our leaders on the field. And we return two of our four wide receivers this season.”
Absent from the roster is last year’s second leading rusher, then sophomore, Paris Fairley. Senior Deshaun Price, who saw limited action last year in the backfield will replace Fairley at running back. Price tallied 133 yards on 22 carries, an average of six yards a carry as a junior.
With a veteran line returning, Durr plans to stay balanced on offense.
“We hope to stay balanced,” said Durr. “We will be based out of the spread. I think that’s the best formation to run with our skill guys returning. We plan to spread out our offense and let them make plays. We will also run select plays out of the I formation.”
Defense
Just as with its offense, Mount Olive will return eight starters on defense from a year ago.
“Defense will be our strong point this year,” stated Durr. “All of our defensive lineman, except for one, will return. [The same is true for our linebackers and defensive backs.]”
Hunt, a 5’10, 225-pound senior, who also played full back last season, led the team in tackles with 106 as a middle linebacker. Inside linebacker Brandon Thornton also returns. As a junior, Thornton was credited with 92 tackles.
“We will be based out of a 3-4 defense,” Durr noted. “We changed our fronts up. Hunt and Thornton will be our anchors on the defensive side of the ball. They tallied a lot of tackles last year, and we are hoping they can add to that this year.”
Nose guard Bobby Hubbard is another player Durr is excited to have back. In his sophomore season, Hubbard recorded 57 tackles and five sacks.
