LORMAN — Jefferson County High School had little trouble against Amite County High School in its spring matchup at Alcorn State University Saturday.

The Tigers came out on top 44-24, and head coach James Herrington said his team took advantage of opportunities given to them by Amite County.

“We tackled pretty well for this early in the year,” Herrington said. “We weren’t as sharp as I thought we’d be. We turned the ball over a few times, but we were able to capitalize on a few turnovers by Amite.

“Overall, it wasn’t bad for a spring game. No one was injured, so that’s always a plus.”

Herrington said basic fundamentals were a big key to the Tigers’ spring workouts.

“We had to make sure our guys understand that running, blocking and tackling are the basics of the game,” Herrington said. “We worked on the fundamentals a lot in the spring.”

Herrington said his team would have to replace a number of seniors, but he was pleased so far with how the replacements have stepped up.

“We had a lot of seniors to leave out in big positions,” Herrington said.

“We had a lot of guys last year who were weren’t expecting to play as quickly as they did, but were forced to down the stretch due to injuries and other things. Those guys made some big plays, and they’re picking up right where they left off.”

And Herrington said he hopes last year’s seniors made a lasting impression on the returning players.

“All we can do is hope our guys listened to how we coached them last year,” Herrington said.

“We told (last year’s seniors) that it wasn’t so much the stats that were important, but what it was they left behind to the players that were under them. Hopefully they did a good job with them.”

Defense won’t be lacking in experience, as the Tigers will bring back nine starters on that side of the ball.

“We expect big things out of our defense,” Herrington said. “Bringing back nine of defense is always a plus, and we’re looking to them to be our strongest point this year, with that much experience coming back.”

On offense, Herrington said last year’s team speed would be hard to duplicate.

“You can’t replace the speed we had with Robert Wells,” Herrington said. “Hopefully coming back this season, we have guys that will be more natural football players that will be a lot stronger from our summer workouts.”

And Herrington said all the work done in the spring would be for naught if his players don’t follow it up with a strong summer.

“We have definitely been stressing the importance of laying off summer vacations and other things that might distract them from football,” Herrington said.

Jefferson County opens its season against Trinity Episcopal August 19 at home.