July 25, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
Florence & White Ford and the Ford Motor Company are again offering DCHS Football the opportunity to raise thousands of dollars with their annual test drive program on Friday, August 2. Tiger football fans can earn money for the DCHS football program by simply test-driving a new Ford at the school.
It’s the annual “Community Football Night” out at DCHS and fans are invited to come as early as 4:00 p.m. to purchase a barbeque meal and new “Tiger Pride” shirts and to test drive a new Ford vehicle by the Florence & White dealership in Smithville. For every valid test drive, Ford will donate $20 to the football program. The more fans who come out and test drive a new Ford vehicle, the more money will be made for DCHS football.
Don’t forget to Pre-Register Online at https://d4ur.com/P4948
The Tigers will play a scrimmage game that night, August 2 hosting Gordonsville starting at 6 p.m. The following Friday night, August 9 the Tigers will be on the road for a scrimmage game at Friendship Christian and then on Friday, August 16 DCHS will meet Gordonsville in a Jamboree at Smith County.
Tiger Coach Steve Trapp, who is beginning his 15th season, said Thursday he likes what he has seen in his team this year
“It has gone well this summer. We do a lot of 7 on 7’s where we play football without the linemen and just throw which is what we like to do at DeKalb County. We have done fairly well with that. I am really happy with how my guys have performed but it’s still early. We’re a month away from that first official game. We have some pre-season scrimmages coming up to help us fine tune everything we’re doing but so far so good. Each and every day we’re trying to get better,” he said.
One thing that sets this team apart this season is the experience factor.
“The last two years have been a challenge for us but this year we will have more upper classmen on the field on Friday nights than underclassmen. A lot of juniors and seniors will be on the field, mostly juniors. We only have seven or eight seniors but it will be names people are familiar with because they have a lot of experience. We have young guys who have played a lot of football for us for at least a year and some of them have two and three years experience. We have nine starters returning pretty much on both sides of the ball and we have some new guys who have come out this year as upper classmen who will help us out tremendously. We have experience in the backfield with our running back David Bradford. He was banged up a lot last year and missed a few games. He really wasn’t 100% in the games he did play in but he has already had a few offers from colleges so he has looked the part on both sides of the ball. Our quarterback Axel Aldino got in a few games as a freshman and became a full time starter as a sophomore. He has grown up a lot physically and mentally in the off season. Up front on the offensive line we have Isaac Cross, probably the most experienced football player we have and he has already made a commitment to Tennessee Tech. He is a leader of our football team. We also have some new guys in there up front but they have experience and are big so I really think the strength offensively is that we can lean on that big offensive line and those two guys who can run the football and off that be able to throw it. On paper DeKalb County football looks good but we still have to go prove it,” Coach Trapp continued.
The season kicks off on Friday, August 23 at Warren County followed by another road game at Upperman on August 30. The home opener will be September 6 against Stone Memorial.
All games start at 7:00 p.m. All opponents are the same as last year but the home and away games are reversed this year
WJLE will have LIVE coverage each week.
The DCHS 2019 Football Schedule is as follows:
REGION OPPONENTS (*)
August 23: Warren County- McMinnville 7 p.m.
August 30: Upperman-Baxter 7 p.m.
September 6: Stone Memorial*-Smithville 7 p.m.
September 13: Watertown-Watertown 7 p.m.
September 20: Grundy County- Smithville 7 p.m.
September 27: Cannon County (Homecoming)-Smithville 7 p.m.
October 4: Livingston Academy*-Livingston 7 p.m.
October 11: Smith County-Smithville 7 p.m.
October 18: Macon County*-Smithville 7 p.m.
October 25: BYE WEEK
November 1: Cumberland County* Crossville 7 p.m.