It’s football time in DeKalb County. Well, actually the season doesn’t start until the annual border battle with Warren County this August but the Tigers are already getting in work, scrimmaging a pair of teams this past week in Nashville.
“I was proud of the way they played,” said DeKalb County Head Football Coach Steve Trapp of the 2018 edition of the Tigers that scrimmaged against Antioch and Glencliff in Nashville.
Trapp noted that Soddy Daisy cancelled the original scrimmage, sending the Tigers hustling to find someone to play against for their spring scrimmage.
“Our guys didn’t have any advance about who they were playing but they went right in there and played well. But I expected that since we believe that effort and attitude should always be 100 percent,” Trapp said, adding the team played a total of 120 plays in the pair of scrimmages.
As for the outcome, the coach said the Tigers outscored their opponents but the important part was getting a glimpse of the team in game mode.
Coming off a 3-7 campaign in 2017 that ended with a first round loss in the playoffs to Marshall County, the Tigers will be fielding a young squad this season. However, just because they are young, does not mean they will not be effective.
“Some of our best players are right where you want them, in the line and in the running back position,” Trapp said, adding one such lineman, Isaac Cross is the first junior he has ever named team captain. The lineman is expected to be a team leader this season and is already being scouted by several college programs.
On the offensive side of the ball, senior quarterback Tyler Cantrell has graduated leaving sophomore Axel Aldino and junior Conner Vaughn to battle for the quarterback position.
“Competition is good,” Trapp noted.
Behind them they will have a returning David Bradford, a bruising running back who also plays middle linebacker. He will be joined by Warren County transfer Tre Ladet.
While the squad only numbers 50, a bit down from past year, the coach says he sees depth in the lineup.
“I think we may get away from a lot of two-way players,” Trapp said, adding the summer OTAs which began yesterday will go a long way to determine which players will step up. “We have some up-and-coming ninth graders who may get to play on Friday nights depending on how they do in June.”
The off-season conditioning and training will be held from 8-10 a.m. in the morning until late June.
