Mary G. Montgomery football coach Zach Golson has a message for anyone who assumed the Vikings’ six-game winning streak last season was a fluke: get ready to see more of it.
MGM’s starting offense put a Mississippi playoff opponent on its heels early and the backups piled on in the second half as the Vikings beat Hancock, Miss., 28-14 in a spring game on May 19 in Poplarville, Miss. For Golson, the performance was proof his second season leading the program is shaping up even better than his first, which pushed Mary G. Montgomery into the playoffs for the first time in 20 years.
“I think we’re way ahead and we’re in a really good place,” Golson said after the win. “We challenged our kids to show up and go to work and they did.”
Quarterback Jared Hollins and receiver James Bolton, both all-state selections, showed no signs of slowing down what was already one of the state’s top passing combinations in 2023. On the game’s very first snap, Hollins found Bolton for a 40-yard gain, the opening play of what became 40 offensive snaps for the Vikings’ starters in the first half alone.
“We played really fast,” Golson said. “We’ve still got work to do but our coaches did a good job of emphasizing playing fast at each position and we did a better job of teaching it this spring. We were very fast and very physical on both sides of the ball. Our conditioning looked really good. You could tell (Hancock) was starting to get fatigued by the third drive and it looked like we hadn’t even gotten started yet.”
Hollins finished 14-of-16 passing for 245 yards in his half of work. Bolton, who led Class 7A with 1,304 receiving yards a season ago, caught six passes for 140 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown from Hollins. Running back Troy Flowers added a 3-yard touchdown run.
“Jared was super-efficient and I thought we played well up front,” Golson said. “James and Jared picked up where they left off and Troy had a good night too.”
Golson said Hollins, who threw for 2,152 yards, 21 touchdowns and just two interceptions last season, continues to sharpen his game heading into his junior year.
“I thought one of the things we’ve been working with him on and we want to see is continuing to get his footwork cleaned up, which will make him more elite,” Golson said. “He did a good job with it. And his presence and his poise — he’s got that demeanor the guys look to.”
The Vikings’ first live action of the year began with a statement: a play-action pass to a post route that Hollins delivered despite good coverage.
“Right out of the gate, it was right on the money,” Golson said. “There was good coverage but Jared made a great throw and James made a contested catch.”
MGM’s starters didn’t score on that opening drive, but Flowers capped a nine-play march with his touchdown run on the second series, and Hollins’ 45-yard scoring strike to Bolton put the starters up 14-7 by halftime.
Golson said this year’s team is developing an identity built around toughness as it tries to reach the playoffs in consecutive seasons for just the third time in school history, following an 0-8 postseason drought.
“This team is going to be physical,” he said. “Our coaching staff has challenged our guys to play that way. As fast as we are getting to the point of attack, it allows you to be more physical. The defense swarmed to the ball all night. Hancock is very physical and bigger than us and I was worried about how we might match up.”
The Vikings’ depth showed in the second half, as backup quarterbacks Brandon Smith and Dane Saucier threw touchdown passes to help MGM’s reserves match the starters’ effort and beat Hancock’s backups 14-7 in that half.
“We had 105 kids and everybody got to play at least one drive,” Golson said. “Our twos played very well.”
With spring football behind them, the Vikings will spend the summer on the 7-on-7 circuit, with stops at the University of South Alabama and the University of Alabama before wrapping up in mid-July at the National 7-on-7 tournament in Hoover.
“I’m excited to see this group up there,” Golson said.