2026 MSAC Football Preview: Hurricane

Eighteen months after a run to the Class AAAA state semifinals, Hurricane went 1–9 and finished last in the Blue Division. This is the biggest swing in the conference.

The Program at a Glance

Hurricane reached the Class AAAA state semifinals in 2024 as the No. 6 seed. In 2025 the Redskins went 1–9, were shut out of the division at 0–4, and finished 20th in the final Class AAAA rankings — the lowest of any MSAC school in that class.

2025 in Review

2026 Schedule

Coach’s Interview

Let's talk about you know, it's your third week of camp. You know, got scrimmage tomorrow. How's the energy from the guys so far this summer?

Coach Dustin Hatifield 

·       The energy's been pretty good. Yeah, we you know just like most teams, you know, we've had ups and downs throughout camp, but overall the attitude and the energy's been really good. You know, feels like we're proving, you know, each day a little bit banged up right now. We've got like 13 kids sidelined right now, so hopefully we can get some of these kids back healthy before the season starts.

Tomorrow you're scrimmaging, capital and capital mainly, correct? What are you looking forward to seeing from you guys tomorrow?

Coach Dustin Hatifield 

·       Just to clean up some of the things from our first scrimmage with Bluefield, you know, I thought we played with really good effort in that game. Just some fundamental mistakes, nothing catastrophic, and you know, just trying to get the little details coached out of them, and hopefully we see those improvements.

What players have emerged as the leaders in camp so far?

Coach Dustin Hatifield 

·       Yeah, I would say so far. I mean, it's definitely our senior class. You know, Tyler Lauerman, running back, linebacker, Kamdyn Womack, our center and interior lineman, defensive lineman. You know, those guys are probably the catalyst to this team and leading, and then some guys that have really stepped up as far as from last year. Second-year football player Lane Ferris, you know he's night and day different from what he was last year. You know, and that's be expected year two to see that big jump for him. He's a senior, so he's really playing as good as anybody on our team right now. And then of course Isaiah Kutscher, you know our senior quarterback and safety, is playing really good football right now as well.

You know, so you start off open week 1, then  10 week grind

Coach Dustin Hatifield   

·       Yes. A weekly grind.

It's taking it one game at a time.

Coach Dustin Hatifield 

·       Yeah, I mean that's all you can do in this conference. You can't take any days off, so it's unfortunate we got an open week, but at least we get another week, I guess, to evaluate our players and then hopefully just clean up any mistakes that we need to clean up before that first game. You know, here in our hopefully our new stadium will be done. We're getting close against GW.

What learning lessons are you taking from year one going into year two?

Coach Dustin Hatifield 

·       Oh, there's probably too many to count, to be honest. But you know, just understanding and trusting the process, and you know, not everything can be overnight success. Just keep investing in our kids and developing leadership within our team and team toughness, and you know just keep developing them as young men, and you know the majority of it takes care of itself.

Coach Hatfield, thank you.

Coach Dustin Hatifield 

·       Appreciate it.

The Takeaway

Entering his second year as head coach, Hatfield says he continues with his “take things one week at a time” mantra and focusing on improving the squad each day while working towards a tough schedule this fall. With a bye week in week 1, Hurricane can use this time for further evaluation, and added preparation for 10 consecutive games.

The preseason isn’t just about finding starting lineup players for Coach Hatfield, but about developing leaders, consistency and preparing a team to take on the challenges of the MSAC slate.