INDIAN HEAD, Md. — The Henry E. Lackey High School football team enters the 2026 season looking to build on last year’s state championship appearance and take the final step.
The Chargers endured a difficult start in 2025, opening 1-4 before turning their season around and advancing to the state championship game. Head coach Jimari Jones said the experience showed his players the importance of resilience.
“We experienced the full spectrum,” Jones told The BayNet. “We started off 1-4, and we were young, we were undisciplined. Anything that could go bad did.”
Lackey eventually regrouped, defeating several No. 1 seeds during its playoff run before falling in the state championship game.
“The biggest takeaways from last season, the positives were the way we finished and the fact that our kids showed how resilient they are and can be,” Jones said.
That experience has carried into the offseason and first week of practice. Jones said the team has a large freshman class and nearly 50 players on the junior varsity roster, creating plenty of new faces to integrate into the program.
The Chargers also have several positions to replace, including quarterback, but return a strong defensive line led by junior Tyzon Swann.
Swann, a Lackey product who has played with many of his teammates since childhood, has developed into a leader for the Chargers.
“He’s a hometown kid,” Jones said. “He’s played with these kids forever. So, in some cases, it’s an inspiration for kids to see that a guy that’s from right here, where I came from, humble beginnings, can achieve those things.”
Jones said accountability and leadership have been major offseason priorities. Players are expected to push one another academically, athletically and personally.
“The best teams are player-led,” Jones said.
Lackey’s identity this season will center on toughness, discipline and athleticism — qualities Jones considers hallmarks of the program.
Defensively, the Chargers want to be physical and relentless.
“We want to be the punisher,” Jones said. “We want to be physical at the point of attack. We want to have relentless pursuit.”
Offensively, Jones wants the team to sustain drives and capitalize when opportunities arise.
“If we block it for six, we want to get six,” he said.
The Chargers will use preseason scrimmages against Patuxent and Roosevelt to evaluate how players perform under pressure and whether they can execute when things do not go according to plan.
Jones expects another highly competitive Southern Maryland Athletic Conference season, with little room for complacency.
“We’re going to have to play the football game in order to decide the winner every week,” he said.
Lackey’s ultimate goal is clear. The program has not won a state championship since 1986, and after reaching the title game last season, Jones wants his players to finish the job.
“We want to be known as the team that got it done,” Jones said.
Still, Jones emphasized that the championship goal starts with smaller daily objectives: maximum effort, attention to detail and exceeding expectations.
The Chargers will focus on controlling what they can — their effort, discipline, focus and organization — while continuing to grow as players and young men.
“If we are helping to transition these boys into young men and they are having positive interactions and they’re fellowshipping with one another and we are getting better at football along the way, then as a coach, I consider that a success,” Jones said.
After coming within one game of a state championship last season, Lackey enters 2026 with confidence, experience and a clear mission: improve every day and be ready when another opportunity arrives.
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