August 23, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb County Tigers and Upperman Bees will meet in “The Battle of Center Hill” Friday night in Smithville. The Tigers are hoping to reclaim the oar after losing it to the Bees last year.
The oar, a trophy instituted three years ago between these two schools, is affectionately nicknamed “The Battle of Center Hill,” because the teams are on opposite sides of Center Hill Lake.
Both teams opened the 2018 campaign with wins last Friday night as the Tigers defeated Warren County 19 to 14 while the Bees knocked off Cookeville 23 to 7.
Tiger Coach Steve Trapp, speaking on WJLE’s Tiger Talk program, said Upperman Coach Adam Caine, will have his team ready and his hope is that the Tigers will be equally prepared for the challenge.
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“His (Coach Caine’s) philosophy is he does want to control the clock. He wants to control the game. He wants to play sound defense and limit the other team’s opportunities to play offense but that doesn’t mean that he won’t throw the ball. As far as what we have seen on tape, there is a blend there. It’s a little bit of the old Upperman and some spread stuff in there. Not a great deal of it but it is something we are prepared for and ready to face Friday night. But a lot of what we have seen is what they were doing in 2015 with a power running game. In 2016 they went more to a wing tee but still it fits into his philosophy. He is a good coach. We tell our guys, up front they are going to play hard and disciplined. It comes down to are we going to do the same but in a greater way. I just feel like it is going to be a tremendous football game,” said Coach Trapp.
(VIEW VIDEO CLIP OF WJLE’S TIGER TALK PROGRAM BELOW)
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Kick-off will be Friday night, August 24 at 7 p.m. at DCHS.
WJLE’s pre-game shows begin with “Coach to Coach” at 5 p.m. featuring former coaches Doug Matthews, Dave McGinnis, and broadcaster Larry Stone.
“Murphy’s Matchups” airs at 6 p.m. featuring the Guru of Tennessee High School Football Murphy Fair.
“Tiger Talk” begins at 6:30 p.m. featuring DCHS Coach Steve Trapp and Tiger Football Players David Bradford, Desmond Nokes, and Isaac Knowles. John Pryor, the Voice of the Tigers, is the host of the program.
WJLE’s “LIVE” play by play coverage starts at 7 p.m. with the Voice of the Tigers John Pryor and Luke Willoughby.
LISTEN LIVE ON WJLE and LIVE STREAMING at www.wjle.com