September 12, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
Thursday night football!
Due to forecasts of rain over the next couple of days from Hurricane Francine, DCHS has announced that the homecoming football game between the Tigers (3-0) and Watertown (0-3) will be played tonight (Thursday) instead of Friday night, as had been scheduled. Kick-off is at 7 p.m. in Smithville.
The DCHS homecoming parade is still set for Friday.
Although rain is predicted for both tonight and Friday, Tiger Coach Steve Trapp said field conditions would most likely be better tonight.
“Its frustrating. I don’t like doing that (rescheduling) but it seems like there may be more opportunity for lightning, storms, and possible tornadic activity on Friday night compared to tonight. That was a big part of this decision,” explained Coach Trapp. “ But also, there’s a lot of work that goes into field preparation as well. A lot of the work we put into it allows the field to take some of mother nature but playing on the field on day one of weather is a lot different than trying to play on the field of day two when its rained for two days in a row. That’s what weighed into the decision. I hate that this happened on homecoming but at the end of the day everything that takes place is because of the football game. We want everybody to have a good time and be safe but we are focused on playing great football,” said Coach Trapp.
Last week the Tigers gave up only one touchdown in beating the Livingston Academy Wildcats 42-8 on the road in the region opener.
After a slow start, Coach Trapp said the Tigers found their footing.
“For the first couple of minutes, they (Wildcats) ran it right down our face but our guys really responded well and they (Livingston Academy) didn’t get anything else after that. I thought we had a great week of preparation, and it showed up once we got everybody in tune. I feel really good, particularly about our offense, because last week was a little bit different from what we did the week before and a bit different from the week before that. We have different guys stepping up each week and other guys who are ready and willing to break out. It’s a good start to the season but at the end of the day while 3-0 is what was achieved last week, it’s trying to be 1-0 this week,” said Coach Trapp.
The Tigers enter tonight’s game at 3-0 with wins over Warren County (0-3) 28-14, Smith County (0-3) 35-6, and Livingston Academy (2-1) 42-8. Watertown is 0-3 with losses to Forrest (3-0) 40-34, Gordonsville (3-0) 26-19, and Sequatchie County (2-1) 33-28.
“Watertown is 0-3 but they have lost all three games by one score or less. They are probably one of the best 0-3 teams in the state. They have a tremendous coaching staff that does a lot of good things. It may be the best defense we have faced all year. Its usually a challenge to get things going against them so they have our full attention. Its up to our guys to go out and prove that we are ready to be 4-0 but we have to get our hearts and minds right,” added Coach Trapp.
WJLE’s Pre-Game shows begin with the “Fearless Forecasters” at 4:30 p.m. followed by Murphy’s Matchups at 6:00 p.m., a look at Tennessee High School Football from Murphy Fair with commentary on games and coaches’ interviews.
“Tiger Talk” airs at 6:30 p.m. with the Voice of the Tigers John Pryor interviewing Coach Steve Trapp and Tiger football players Jon Hendrix, Aiden Turner, and Wyatt Carter.
Kick-off is at 7:00 p.m. with play-by-play coverage on WJLE from the Voice of the Tigers John Pryor and Luke Willoughby. Listen LIVE on WJLE AM 1480/FM 101.7 and LIVE Streaming at www.wjle.com.
“Coach to Coach” will air in its regular time slot on Friday at 5:00 p.m. and will repeat Saturday morning at 9 a.m. featuring former UT assistant coach Doug Matthews with Tennessee Titans Radio Broadcaster Dave McGinnis and broadcaster Larry Stone talking Tennessee and SEC football.
2024 DCHS Tiger Football Schedule:
September 12: Watertown (HOMECOMING) 7:00 p.m.
September 20: Gordonsville (AWAY) 7:00 p.m.
September 27: Stone Memorial* (HOME) 7:00 p.m.
October 4: Macon County* (AWAY) 7:00 p.m.
October 11: Cumberland County* (AWAY) 7:00 p.m.
October 18: BYE
October 25: White County* (HOME) 7:00 p.m.
October 31 (Thursday): Upperman* (HOME) 7:00 p.m.