Keonta Hill likes playing EA Sports College Football 26 more than the next sports fan.

In the game, he picked Vanderbilt for his Road to Glory team.

As a senior on Madison County’s football team, he hopes to put up some more video game numbers himself this season.

“I just want to go in and do whatever my team needs to win football games at the end of the day,” Hill said on Monday at Huntsville-area high school football media day.

Last season saw Hill run for 1,530 yards and 16 touchdowns on 210 carries as the Tigers’ lead back, claiming Huntsville Times All-Region honors.

While he was encouraged by his season last year, he looks to do more this year to help his team; the Tigers went 2-8 last season under Chris Hancock, who will enter his second season as the program’s head football coach.

“We won our spring football game. We started off on a high with everybody coming in, working and getting better,” Hill said. “We have more team chemistry, more than last year, so I think we’ll shock some people this year.”

Hancock, who served as defensive coordinator for six seasons at Huntsville before taking the Madison County job and also served as head coach at Columbia and Buckhorn, described the work that Hill has done as “exceptional.”

The coach added that he plans to play Hill at linebacker this season as well for the Tigers.

“Last year, he got a chance to really put it out there,” the coach said. “He’s been the guy who was the second guy going in after some of the backs they’ve had there in the past. Last year, he had a chance to shine. He had 1,600 yards and 16 touchdowns; he did a great job. He’ll tell you, he’s got a great offensive line, got a good quarterback coming back.

“A lot of success, all from him, to quarterback and so forth, and then our receivers. He’s going to play a little both ways.”

Along with Hill, Hancock took pride in his offensive line group, which returns plenty of experience. The veterans include Cole Mullins, who represented his team at media day on Monday alongside Hill.

“It starts with those guys up front,” Hancock said. “We’ve got a very seasoned bunch of guys coming back that are young, but they’re all going to come back. Four out of my five guys are going to be back next year.”

Hill, who said his high school career “went by fast” and is excited about his senior year, described Hancock as a “very efficient” head coach.

“We don’t stay in there for hours,” he said of workouts and team activities. We get in and get our work done; we get a lot of work done.”

Hancock said one of the keys to success during his second season is demonstrating a strong work ethic, with the standard and expectations already set high.

“As their coach, you want to be the example,” the coach said. “Having a great coaching staff surrounding us and surrounding those guys and holding them accountable, the expectations have been put out.”

Madison County will open the season at home against Boaz on Friday, Aug. 22.

“Both sides of the ball are seasoned,” Hancock said. “I’ve got a seasoned defensive line, an offensive line, and then, of course, our running backs. It’s going to be fun.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do one game at a time.”