John Feaster’s era begins at Stone High

John Feaster was an assistant coach under two of the Coast’s top head coaches in Pearl River County.

Feaster plans to bring that mentality to Stone High, his first head coaching job. He was defensive coordinator for Eric Collins at Pearl River Central and assistant at Picayune under Dodd Lee.

Stone (1-0) got off to a great start under Feaster last Friday, routing Vancleave 49-6 in the season opener as running back Terrion Avery ran for 250 yards and scored three touchdowns.

“We want people to know that Stone High will battle and be competitive whether we’re winning or losing,” Feaster said. “I want to make sure my kids are prepared and put them in the best position to win. When I got here, I was impressed with the kids’ hard work ethic and competitive spirit.”

Stone (4-7, 2-5 Region 4-5A) will rely heavily on its offense, which returns six starters.

Half of the Tomcats’ backfield returns: Avery and junior fullback Dennis Roberts. Avery is the best Tomcats’ offensive weapon, running for 1,200 yards and scoring 15 touchdowns as a junior in 2015.

“I feel great about having Avery back,” Feaster said. “He’s battle-tested. He had 1,200 yards last year, but wants more this year. We have to establish the running game.”

Preston Stringer will start at quarterback, with Ashton Hickman at wingback. Both are seniors.

Both Tomcats wide receivers are back: seniors Nick Brown and Truitt Smith. Brown scored six TDs last year and considered Stone’s deep threat.

“We need to find a way to get the ball in Nick’s hands,” Feaster said.

Stone, however, only returns two offensive line starters: guard Brandon Dickens and Aaron Yeager. Both are seniors.

Senior Keaton Iser and Drew Stanley will start at tackle, while Chaz Breland takes over at center. Breland’s a senior.

Stone returns five starters on defense, but the Tomcats are inexperienced upfront and linebacker.

Junior Kendall Arrington is the only starter returning upfront. Senior Trey Wegner is the only returning starting linebacker.

The Tomcats’ strength will be in the secondary, returning three starters: free safety R’Tarriun Johnson, and cornerbacks Demetrius Whitaker, Nick Brown.

Juniors Enrique Whaley, Kentrell McCray and Justin Batiste are expected to start at cornerback and the other two safety spots.

“We’ll be counting heavily on Trey, Nick and R’Tarrion,” Feaster said. “We’ve got a young defensive line. We want to control both lines of scrimmage.”

Competing in Region 4-5A will be another tough task for the Tomcats. Hattiesburg is considered the favorite to win Region 4-5A, while Pascagoula, PRC and Picayune are perennial playoff teams.

“We need to be relentess, disciplined and give effort,” Feaster said. “Effort alone will win you three games. We want to make sure we have a finished product on the field.”

Despite the impressive season-opening win, Feaster sees plenty of room for growth.

“The kids played hard,” Feaster said. “I’m grateful and thankful we won, but we still have a lot of work to do. We have to execute better on both sides of the ball.”

The Tomcats face East Central on Friday night.

This story was originally published August 22, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "John Feaster’s era begins at Stone High."