With the bright lights and a heavy mist, the Hernando Tigers set out to fight the Oxford Chargers for the last time at Anthony Jenkins Field. With the odds against them the Tigers started the game with an opening kick from number 2 Will Uselton. During the game, there were many well thought out plays including when number 32, Cooper Lankford, after being spun around, had a 15 yard gain. Another memorable play included number 5, Fredrick Flucker, when he brought in a pass from quarterback, Brandon Overstreet, for the first touchdown of the night. After giving everything they had, the game concluded with a score of 43 to 9 in favor of the Chargers.
Before the last game at Anthony Jenkins Field, Hernando High School invited some former coaches and players back to recognize them as alumni of the Hernando High School football program. Anthony Jenkins, for which the field is named after, was also in attendance. Jenkins coached football, track, and power lifting at Hernando for 26 years and was renowned for playing a huge part in the development of many young men. Not long after receiving this award, Jenkins left the sidelines and became the district head of athletics in 2014. With a record of 158-108, Jenkins took the tigers to the state play offs eight times and was the North Half runner-up in 2010.
During the half time of a football game on Friday, October 14, 2016, the school renamed Tiger Stadium after Anthony Jenkins. Prior to this, athletic director and baseball coach, David Lara, was quoted saying, “It’s been right at about two-and-a-half months that we’ve been trying to get everything organized as much as possible with as many people as possible,”. This alluded to Hernando High School’s effort to contact some of his former players, parents of kids who played for him, and faculty who worked with him. Expressing his gratitude Jenkins was noted saying, “This is the highlight of my career and the great part about tonight is that I got a chance to see players from 26 years back,” and “You can probably imagine that the years kind of run together, but I remembered nearly every kid from that first team and that second team, because it was them that laid the foundation for us to be where we are right now.”
As we circle back around, we can only wonder who the new Tiger stadium will be named after.
