Marengo Academy’s Robby James has been named the Demopolis Times Coach of the Year in 2012 due to his team’s turnaround over 2011.

The Longhorns finished 2011 with a 2-8 record, but in 2012, they finished the season just one win away from being in the AISA state championship game with a 7-5 record.

James said his team’s success this season started with their attitude.

“They started working in the summer at 6 a.m. workouts,” he said. “It all started there for us. They love to play and be competitive. Seven sophomores this year started for us as ninth-graders the year before, so they had experience.”

He added that his team was in every game this year, which is a testament to his team’s attitude.

“We were in every game this year, all the way up to the end,” he said. “We lost a couple games by a touchdown or just a couple possessions.”

The Longhorns only had one senior on the 2012 team, but that did not deter them from being competitive against teams with older players and more experience.

“We preached all season long that we could compete with anybody,” James said, “and they bought into it. These guys are used to winning. They won all through junior high and going up against older teams didn’t bother them.”

James said there is already a lot of anticipation about next year’s team because of how many players he is bringing back from this year’s team.

“There is a lot of anticipation of what we could do,” he said. “We have to keep working and keep getting better. Keeping people healthy will be important because we don’t have much depth.”

The Longhorns finished 4-2 in their region this year after finishing 1-5 the previous year.