After failing to make playoffs for the first time in seven years, the Oxford Chargers are poised to return to postseason play this upcoming season. The Chargers finished last year’s season with five wins and five losses, making them third in their division.

Head Coach Chris Cutcliffe was disappointed in their performance last fall.

“Not making the playoffs is definitely something that we are not used to or pleased with, there were definitely some good moments but that’s not the standard that we set,” Cutcliffe said.

Although the goal remains the same, the Chargers have now entered the 7A district which includes other large schools such as Hernando, Desoto Central, Lewisburg, Horn Lake, and Southaven.

“The travel is definitely a lot better,” Cutcliffe said. “One of the things we try to do is to challenge ourselves with as hard of a schedule as possible, and I think we have done that again this year.”

Although the Chargers lost some key players last year, many of the newest players are prepared for key roles on this year’s team.

“We are always going to have some new faces coming in,” Cutcliffe said. “We do have some returning players but we had two freshmen starting in the Jamboree. We will also have some guys making their first start ever and we are excited to see the work they are putting in transition onto the field for the first time.”

The Chargers starting quarterback is still in question as senior quarterback Peter Grandjean and his brother sophomore Mitchell Grandjean, who led the Chargers to a miraculous homecoming victory over Clinton as a Freshman. Team captain Jack Harper is torn on the QB battle.

“Both guys have done a great job competing in practice and both guys have done a great job supporting each other whether that’s one guy had a bad day and the other had a good day,” Harper said.

Harper also spoke on his thoughts on this year’s team

“This year’s team has come a long way, we put a lot of work in this offseason going back to last winter, right now there is a lot of leadership from the senior class and that has really helped people progress,” Harper said.

Senior Defensive Lineman and captain Jabari White spoke on the game plan defensively

“We have good chemistry and have great players that have progressed a lot from last year, and are loaded,” White said.