It’s no secret that the Loy Norrix Football Program has struggled to win. In the past 4 seasons, LN Football has posted a record of 3 wins and 33 losses (3-33).
After coach Jason Porter resigned in 2016, the program was in need of a savior. The LN Football Program needed a man with extensive knowledge of the game and a will to win. The athletic department found exactly that when they hired this year’s new head coach, Terry Farmer.
During the football meeting early in the school year, senior Cody Wilkins said, “From day one, Farmer’s presence in the locker room was something we’ve lacked in all the years I’ve played football here [at LN].”
Farmer played football at Aurora University in Aurora, IL. After his playing days were over, Farmer started his coaching career at Oswego High School in his hometown Oswego, IL. He later went to South Lafourche High School in Louisiana and turned the team around in his first season.
Before Farmer’s time as head coach, South Lafourche finished back-to-back seasons with a 1-9 win-loss record. In his first season, the team finished with an outstanding 10-2 record. After the 2009 season, Farmer was honored with the Louisiana Coach of the Year Award.
Farmer later moved to England High School in Arkansas. In each of the 5 seasons he coached, the team made the high school football playoffs. Farmer was also awarded with the 2015 Arkansas Coach of the Year Award and 2016 Arkansas Coach of the Year Award.
When asked what made Farmer want to coach these struggling programs he said, “If you go to an already established program, the expectations are unrealistic. They expect you to win every year. When you come to a program like here [LN], the expectations are low and when you do something positive it means a lot more to the school.”
Coach Farmer has given many players on the football team guidance, “The game of football is more than just wins and losses. It’s about these players growing as men and increasing their skill level along the way,” said Farmer
Farmer has given our school a sense of hope. The one game this school cares the most about is against “the other team from Kalamazoo,” Kalamazoo Central.
It was a hard fought game. Both teams played their hearts out until the final whistle blew.
With standout performances from quarterbacks Lee Jones and Romario Williams, which led Loy Norrix to victory.
Lee Jones said, “The play [hook and ladder] was a thing of beauty. It felt like nothing could go wrong in the game that night. We were destined to win.”
One key play in the game was the “hook and ladder” that led to a touchdown. Quarterback Lee Jones threw a 5 yard pass to receiver Yohaness Ademodi who pitched it to Derrel Mabon and ran for a roughly 75 yard touchdown. This gave Norrix a 7-6 lead in the first quarter and gave the Knights a major confidence boost for the rest of the game.
Norrix would go on to win the game by a score of 21-14. Senior Running Back Josh Lipsey said, “Defeat was a word that was not in our vocabulary that night. We were determined to win.”
As Farmer has had such success with struggling programs, some fans are looking ahead and expecting a lot.
As for Farmer’s expectations for the rest of the season, “Our expectations are the same every day: we work hard and do everything right every time,” and that’s what the Loy Norrix football program is doing.