By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

WIGGINS — The Stone High football team is not only aiming for back-to-back region titles for the first time in almost 35 years, but three league crowns in a five year span also for the first time since the early 1990’s.

The Tomcats topped Region 4-5A last season with a perfect 5-0 mark and went 8-4 overall and ended up in the Class 5A South State semifinals.

Now, as head coach Jacob Aycock enters his fourth season as the top Tomcat, he has hopes that his squad can even improve on that worksheet from last year and get right back in the thick of things in the postseason once again.

Stone has improved every year so far under Aycock’s tutelage, going from three wins to six wins to eight wins, respectively.

“We never want to be satisfied,” Aycock said, in a recent interview. “These guys now believe in themselves, and they have confidence in one another and it’s formed a brotherhood. We’d love to go back-to-back in the region, but we know it will be a battle every week.”

Stone will once again count on what is now an even more experienced backfield offensively, one led by junior running back Ayden Green. The speedy Green quickly opened some eyes last season as a sophomore, as he produced 1,476 all-purpose yards and 15 total touchdowns, and was an offensive catalyst for the Tomcats on the ground, registering 1,374 yards and 14 of those scores.

Green and fellow running back Amarion Fairley, along with quarterback Zander Howard were vital cogs in helping Stone close the regular season on a six game win streak, including going 5-0 down the stretch in Region 4-5A play to capture the league championship.

All three return.

“I feel like our backfield is gonna be special,” Aycock added. All of them have more experience and they’ve been through a lot together. And even though he’s been really good for three years now, I think this could be Green’s breakout year.”

Howard threw for almost 800 yards and five scores and Fairley ran for almost 600 yards and seven touchdowns.

Up front, despite a pair of key losses at the tackle spots, four out of the five starters will be seniors.

Defensively, the keys will be Cayden Luster up front in the trenches, along with Kenny Boggs and Charlie Paslay in the secondary.

And, the Tomcats possess a real weapon on special teams as well in Ren Hendrix. He converted 26 extra point attempts and was six-for-nine on field goal tries, as well as serving as doing a solid job in the punting department.

Stone has a new high school and a new football field this season, and the Tomcats set to make their debut in their new surroundings, hosting Hancock on Fri., Aug., 28th to open the new season.