FLORENCE, Ala.-  Since Randall Martin took over as head coach at Rogers, the Pirates have seen growth every year. In 2016, they went undefeated in the regular season, won the class 4A region 8 title and punched a ticket to the playoffs. The Pirates are trying to build on that success in 2017 using simple, three-word motto.

“Do your job is written right there on the wall. They look at that everyday. We just try to concentrate on everyone doing their job,” said Rogers head coach Randall Martin. “If everyone does that, we have a chance to be successful.”

“You never want to let your teammates down,” said senior wide receiver Kade Lucious. ” So it just drives you to do your best every play and never take a play off.”

Last season, Rogers wasn’t able to finish the job after falling to Madison Academy in the third round of the playoffs. That loss left a bitter taste in their mouths that they’re feeding off of this season.

“Just that game in particular we didn’t start off so well,” said Martin. “That’s something we focused on in our workouts and off season program. Starting fast and being able to sustain that throughout practice.”

Senior safety Cade Meyer says they’re focused on the future and not the past.

“We just came back ready to work and we viewed it as that’s last season, not this season so we’re playing as if this is a completely new season.”

This year’s pirate  squad is experienced with 19 seniors on the roster. At this point, they have the X’s and O’s down to a science–but what sets them apart from the competition isn’t their knowledge of the playbook.

“We try to out physical everyone we play,” said senior linebacker Caleb Storie. “We play a lot of physical teams so it’s a challenge every week but I think that’s one of our advantages.”

Rogers kicks off the season on August 25th against Loretto (TN).