FERRIDAY, La. &045; Failure leads many head coaches to the brink.

Experiencing a season devoid of emotion, continuity and, perhaps most important, prosperity merits a trip back to the drawing board.

That’s the exact conclusion Ferriday head football coach James McFarland came to after the Trojans suffered through plenty of internal strife on their way to a 4-7 2003 season.

McFarland and his staff decided &045; if it means sacrificing wins

&045; their team will operate much differently in 2004.

&uot;We’ve held to it. We’re not cutting corners,&uot; said McFarland, who heads into his sixth year at Ferriday in the fall. &uot;We’re not showing any favoritism. If you don’t want to do what we want, you’re not going to be a part of this team. We want kids who’ll listen and do what we ask of them.&uot;

The no-frills mentality ran off nearly 10 players that saw a considerable amount of playing time a year ago.

That leaves the Trojans with three returning starters on offense, but the bulk of their defense remains intact as they entered today’s scrimmage at Block.

Quarterback Scotty Cage is the only skill player to return from last season’s debacle, and he’s hoping the addition of running back/linebacker Montago Tennessee will ease the burden placed upon his shoulders.

&uot;It takes a lot of the load off of me,&uot; Cage said. &uot;We’ve got some of the best coaches around, I feel. They give us the game plan, and it’s our job to go out and execute it.&uot;

Tennessee, who saw time carrying the ball as a backup to the estranged Theotis Cummings a season ago, can pinpoint exactly what went wrong last fall.

&uot;We had too many distractions and no leadership,&uot; he said. &uot;This year all that has changed. More people are speaking out in the huddle. Take Scotty for instance. No player yelled things out last year, but now Scotty’s pointed people in the right directions. We’ve got a lot of juniors and sophomores leading too.&uot;

McFarland’s biggest concern is his &uot;offense, period.&uot; He’s seen maturity in Cage just through the spring, but remains troubled over having a line that will protect his signal caller.

&uot;Scotty can get the job done. We just need to keep people off of him,&uot; McFarland said. &uot;The question marks will be how well we can play offensively. But as the season goes, I see us scoring a lot of touchdowns.&uot;

&uot;These kids are hungry. They’ve come into spring with the right attitude,&uot; McFarland said. &uot;They know the days of everybody laying down for us are over.&uot;