New Albany Football

NEW ALBANY FOOTBALL BulldogS want to compete every game, win cloSe oneS

new alBany at a glance

Division: 2-4A 2021 Record: 4-6, 0-5 (no playoffs)

Head coach: Cody Stubblefield (5th year)

playerS to watcH

JAREIL BOWLING

OLB/RB, Sr. • Recorded 83 total tackles last season with 15 TFL, averaged 8.3 tackles per game.

KODY ATKINSON

RB, Sr. • Rushed for 999 yards and 12 TDs last season, averaged 8.1 yards per carry.

BRADEN SHETTLES

QB, Fr. • Freshman QB that will be game one starter, was a starter last season for varsity basketball team.

DREW HOBSON

LB, Jr. • Key player for the Bulldog defense, had 48 tackles and 8 tackles for loss in 2021.

coacHing ‘em up

Dennis Robbins joins the Bulldog coaching staff after having served as an assistant at TCPS previously. Former Bulldog player Taylor Goode also joins the staff after a stint at Grenada.

oFFenSe

Kody Atkinson (Sr.) was the leading rusher for the Bulldogs in 2021 and returns to lead the ground game. Atkinson averaged 8.3 yards per carry last season.

Ke’Lan Simpson was a big contributor last year, rushing for eight TDs and averaging 7.0 yards per carry.

New Albany will entrust their offense to Braden Shettles (Fr.) who makes his varsity debut after a successful junior high career. Shettles is no stranger to varsity sports, having been a starter last season for the Bulldog basketball team.

The offensive line returns four starters with a lot of experience and will have some younger guys coming up to provide depth.

deFenSe

The strength of the Bulldog defense will be their linebacking corps which will be led by Jareil Bowling (Sr.) and Drew Hobson (Jr.) who have seen significant playing time.

Montavio Sullivan, who Coach Cody Stubblefield calls a “high energy guy” returns from an injury suffered in 2021 to lead the defensive line.

Special teamS

Whit Robbins (Sr.) and Grayson Alexander (8th) will be handling the kicking chores for New Albany. Ethan Conlee (Jr.) will be the long snapper and Jeb Bolen (So.) will be the holder.

X-Factor

The Bulldogs must find ways to win the close games after struggling and losing most of those last season.

ScHedule analySiS

New Albany will open the season with a road game against county rival East Union on August 26.

The month of September features four more non-division games that are split with two home games and two road contests. Home game will be against an extremely talented and tough Itawamba AHS team and Booneville.

The Bulldogs will travel to Byhalia and Corinth, both teams were in a rebuild mode in 2021, but they should be improved this season.

The gauntlet in Division 2-4A football which consists of the Highway 15 schools begins with a home date against an always tough Pontotoc team.

New Albany will also host North Pontotoc for homecoming and close out the regular season with Houston. Two short road trips will be to Ripley and South Pontotoc.

The Bulldogs raced out to a 4-1 record in non-division, but stumbled to 0-5 in their division slate for 2021.

It is imperative that the competitive non-division schedule prepare the Bulldogs for the balance they will encounter in 2-4A as any team is capable of defeating their foe on any given Friday night.

Head coacH cody StuBBleField (FiFtH SeaSon at new alBany)

aSSiStant coacHeS:

Taylor Goode, Trent Hammond, Kendall Murphy, Dennis Robbins, Shawn Sanks, Collin Stubblefield, Channing Ward

atHletic trainer:

Drew Davis

coacH SpeaK

“We want to be competitive every game, we’ve got a good balance of young and older guys, we need to see if our young guys step up and our older guys play the way they are capable. We’ve got to find ways to consistently run the ball as well as let Braden do some things as we have receivers who are capable of catching the ball.