MARTINSVILLE, Va. – “They lost hope.”
“When they told us we weren’t going to have a season it hurt me in a severe way.”
“You know we’ve been cooped up in the house this whole time.”
“So now we have to take advantage of it now.”
It’s been nearly two calendar years since Lugnut and the Bulldogs have gone to battle. Martinsville, one of a handful of teams who didn’t have a spring season, is busy getting back to structure and developing the will to win.
“We’re telling everybody to be ready to play more than one position because of our numbers and just being away from football itself,” said head coach Bobby Martin. “We’re trying to learn the game again.”
And it all starts with the nearly dozen seniors the Bulldogs will have this fall.
“With Coach Martin it’s never a you thing, it’s always us. You can never put yourself above nobody. We always have to come together and do things and I feel like for us, leadership is a big thing,” said running back and linebacker Marquias Lampkins.
“Teaching the younger guys the new plays but they’ve been learning quite well. We’ve done a lot better than we’ve done in the past years so that’s a big plus,” said Andre Harrison, Bulldogs defensive end and guard.
As the Bulldogs return to form they do so with a chip on their shoulders.
“They keep brushing us off but we got something to prove this season,” said defensive end Cameron Rountree.
“We have a lot of fire in us. Tired of everyone talking about Martinsville. Really am tired of it. I want to go smack some teams in their mouths,” Lampkins said.
Martinsville opens with Glenvar on September 3.