Cumberland County Jets Land in Smithville Tonight (Friday) to Face the DCHS Tigers (Listen to WJLE’s Tiger Talk Program Here)

September 17, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

After two straight road losses the DeKalb County Tigers will return home tonight (Friday) to host the Cumberland County Jets.

https://www.wjle.com/tiger-talk/

Its been two years since these teams have met. Last year’s game was cancelled due to Covid exposure. Cumberland County has struggled in recent years but this year is different. The Jets have shown improvement and are currently 2-2 with wins over Whitwell 35-0 and Lenoir City 17-7. Their losses have been to Monterey 21-7 and to Upperman 41-7.

DeKalb County opened the season beating Smith County at home 33-14 followed by losses at Macon County 32-29 and at Watertown 38-20.

Tiger Coach Steve Trapp knows his team has not played its best lately.

“It was a very frustrating night at Watertown. Our guys can definitely play better. We really like them and the potential they have to play really good football. We as coaches will continue to put them in situations so they can be successful. We will continue to work we just need these guys to buy in a little more to what it ultimately takes the entire week. When those guys lined up right and we did our stuff right we were able to do some things. It was a close ballgame at halftime and we anticipated that type of game but we just lost our way a little in the second half and made some plays we did not recover from and ultimately at the end of the night we ended up not where we wanted to be and it was not a good feeling. With the bad snaps, misalignments, and miscommunication you are not going to be competitive in football games. You have to do the little things correctly. We fell a little short in that category but these guys have had a lot better week this week so we are expecting a team to come out here tonight with a zoom focus and locked in on their task and gets it done every single play,” said Coach Trapp.

Coach Trapp says his team can’t afford to overlook the Jets

“They are an improved football team over what they have been the last five or six years. I played baseball with their coach Noah Repasky.when we were at Motlow so I have known him for a long time. He was at Upperman for a few years as the offensive coordinator. You can tell they have a plan and a scheme and that is what they are going by. Every game to us is important but this is a very important game. It’s a region game. We are already down by one game in the region so we have to make sure we take care of business here at home. We have to control our own destiny. Right now we are fighting for a spot to even be in the playoffs. Our guys must realize that every game is a playoff mode game and every one we win improves our chances . That’s something they need to think about and take to heart. We want their motivation to be do your job, do it well, and do it all night long,” said Coach Trapp.

WJLE’s Pre-Game shows begin with “Coach to Coach” at 5:00 p.m. featuring former UT assistant coach Doug Matthews with former coach Dave McGinnis and broadcaster Larry Stone talking Tennessee and SEC football.

“Coach to Coach” is 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 players Tyler Estes, Isaac Knowles, and Isaiah Harrington.

The game kicks off at 7:00 p.m. with play by play coverage on WJLE with John Pryor and color commentary by Luke Willoughby. Listen LIVE on WJLE AM 1480/FM 101.7 and LIVE STREAM at www.wjle.com.

September 16, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

The 2021 Homecoming Queen at DeKalb County High School is Kyleigh Breanne Hill.

A senior, Hill is the 17 year old daughter of David and Collene Clary and the late Kyle Hill.

Hill’s clubs participation and active memberships are as follows:
Member of the Science, Literature, and Spanish clubs

Athletic Participation:
4 year basketball cheerleader, currently serving as captain and she played DCHS Tigerette softball for 2 years.

Accomplishments/Awards:
NCA All American nominee; Awarded Best Jumps in Cheer for 2020, and she has a 4.0 grade point average and is enrolled in all honors classes

Other information (Church and Community Involvement):
She attends the Refuge Church; worked as a waitress for 2 years at Kilgore’s Restaurant; and she has done dual enrollment for 2 years through Motlow State Community College and plans to attend Cumberland University and major in Psychology.

The Homecoming Attendants are:
*Senior Attendant –Addison Jean Puckett, the 17 year old daughter of Jimmy and Anita Puckett.

Puckett’s clubs participation and active memberships are as follows:
Member of the Literature club (4 years), Beta (3 years), Spanish (2 years), Science (1 year), HOSA (2 years), Service Society (4 years), and FCA

Athletic Participation:
Puckett has been a football cheerleader for 4 years and she will be cheering for the DCHS basketball teams this season

Accomplishments/Awards:
Addison is a 2021 All American cheerleader and was selected to be part of the NCA staff. She is grateful to be one of the senior football cheer captains.

Other information (Church and Community Involvement):
Addison is an active member of the Outreach Baptist Church where she participates in the OBC youth, chrysalis, and young life. She has worked at Infinity Athletics for 4 years and has been a lifeguard at the Smithville city pool for 2 years. Puckett enjoys spending time with her family and friends especially her niece Lakelyn and best friend Addi Roller

*Senior Attendant- Sadie Rian West, the 17 year old daughter of Dana West and the late Greg West.

West’s clubs participation and active memberships are as follows:
FBLA, Student Government, Beta, Service Society, and Spanish clubs.

Athletic Participation:
4 year football cheerleader and competition cheerleader

Accomplishments/Awards:
West has been nominated for All-American several times; named Top All-American by NCA in Lagrange, Georgia; Attendant her sophomore year; held the title of Most Spirited since 7th grade; and placed 5th in the nation at the Summit in 2021

Other information:
Sadie is a member of the Charles Creek The Baptist Church and she loves spending time with her family and friends. She hopes to one day be a pilot and travel the world.

*Junior Attendant- Hannah Paige Trapp, the 16 year old daughter of Jeremy and Jenny Trapp.

Hannah is a member of the Service Society and Spanish club and a 3 year football cheerleader

Accomplishments/Awards:
NCA All American nominee; Awarded Best Flyer in Cheer last year.

Other information (Church and Community Involvement):
Hannah attends the Buckner’s Chapel Methodist Church and is a member of the Smithville First Baptist Church Youth Group.

*Sophomore Attendant- Abby Grace Cross, the 15 year old daughter of Tony and Shelly Cross

She is a member of the Science club and has been a football manager for 2 years. Abby has been named Most Outstanding Freshman girl and she is active in the youth group at the Elizabeth Chapel Baptist Church.

*Freshman Attendant- Madeline Aiko Martin, the 14 year old daughter of Tim and Michiko Martin

Martin’s clubs participation and active memberships are as follows:
FBLA, Student Government, Beta, Service Society, Spanish , and FCA clubs.

Athletic Participation:
Football, Cheer and Cross Country

Accomplishments/Awards:
Her grade point average is among the top 3 highest; she is the Freshman Class Treasurer, and is on the All-A Honor Roll.

She is a member of the First Baptist Church and the SFBC Youth Group.

Spirit week activities will be held September 20-24 at DCHS. The Homecoming Parade will take place Friday afternoon, September 24 and the Tiger Homecoming Football game will be at 7:00 p.m. that night against Cannon County. WJLE will have LIVE coverage of the game.

September 16, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Two of WJLE’s Fearless Forecasters are tied for having the best record picking college football winners over the last two weeks.

Jared Davis and Chad Kirby each have compiled a record of 17-13. They also tied for the best single week record at 8-7 last week while Darrell Gill, Grant James, Ricky Atnip, and Scott Goodwin each went 7-8, John Pryor finished 6-9 and Scott Brown was 5-10.

Following Davis and Kirby for the overall best records after two weeks are Grant James and Ricky Atnip each at 16-14, John Pryor 15-15, Darrell Gill and Scott Goodwin each at 14-16, and Scott Brown 13-17.

Two forecasters picked up underdog points last week. Ricky Atnip got 6.5 points with Arkansas’s win over Texas 40-21 and Scott Brown got on the board with 4 points as Iowa beat Iowa State 27-17.

After two weeks Atnip is the underdog points leader with 6.5 points followed by Scott Brown with 4 and Grant James and Jared Davis each with 3 points.

Today (Thursday) the Forecasters will be picking winners in the following games:

Purdue at Notre Dame, Auburn at Penn State, Arizona State at BYU, Michigan State at Miami, Virginia Tech at West Virginia, USC at Washington State, Florida State at Wake Forest, Virginia at North Carolina, Cincinnati at Indiana, Oklahoma State at Boise State, Mississippi State at Memphis, Alabama at Florida, Stanford at Vanderbilt, Tennessee Tech at Tennessee, and in the NFL the Tennessee Titans at Seattle.

Catch the Fearless Forecasters on WJLE today (Thursday) at 4:30 p.m. on AM 1480/FM 101.7 and LIVE streaming at www.wjle.com.

The program is sponsored by the Charles D. Atnip Realty and Auction Company, Middle Tennessee Natural Gas, FirstBank, DeKalb County Insurance, Davis Auto Body, Gill Automotive, Love-Cantrell Funeral Home, and Dominos Pizza.