DCHS Tigers at Macon County Tonight (Friday) with Region Title on the Line

October 16, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County Tigers will be in Lafayette tonight (Friday) to face the Macon County Tigers with a regular season region football championship on the line.

(Click Link Below to Hear WJLE’s Tiger Talk Program)

https://www.wjle.com/tiger-talk-october-16/

Both teams enter the contest undefeated at 2-0 in Class 4 Region 3A. Overall, DeKalb County is 5-3 while Macon County is 6-1. A win for the Tigers would clinch the region title for them.

After a 1-3 start to the season, DeKalb County has reeled off four straight wins including last week’s 42-7 victory over Smith County at Carthage.

Tiger Coach Steve Trapp said overall he was pleased with his team’s dominating performance against the Owls. “We had one mishap on defense and that’s what can happen if you do something wrong and give up a play. Early in the season we did that a lot more than we have the last few weeks. We did it once last week and it cost us as far as points. A lot of people may be thinking about our offense and how many points we have been putting up but that won’t happen if our defense doesn’t do what they should. If the defense is making the other team punt that gives our offense more opportunities to go out there and attack and be aggressive. That is something we really were not doing very well early on but for the last month the defense has been getting stops and the offense has been putting points on the board and our special teams has also been playing well,” he said.

As for tonight’s opponent, Macon County, “defensively a lot of it holds true to what they have done the last couple of years with a few new wrinkles. Offensively they have been mostly Wing-T. A lot of times an offensive system is either a Wing-T and that’s what you’re going to run or you are going to be a spread team, a Pro-I or whatever. What makes them unique is that they are equally doing spread and Wing-T and not doing a bad job at it. For us preparation wise this week was really more challenging because our defense has to be prepared to defend two offensive systems. On tape we have seen games where they relied on their spread system and in others where its been their Wing-T system. We have to make sure we are up to task on both of those systems so that neither works for them,” said Coach Trapp.

Coaches as well as players and fans understand the significance of tonight’s game. A win and the Tigers can claim the program’s first ever regular season region football title in DCHS school history.

“In January when we set our team goals this is one of the first to represent our district or region as a number 1 seed in the state playoffs and that has never been done here. Another thing we have told our guys this week is we want you to understand what is at stake and not just focus on what is there for you but to focus on what it takes to get it. This is still simply about putting on your helmet, getting on the field, and doing your job better than your opponent and if you do that when this game is over it will be a glorifying feeling,” said Coach Trapp.

DeKalb County has beaten Stone Memorial 31-30, Grundy County 32-0, Cannon County 49-7, Livingston Academy 38-14, and Smith County 42-7. The Tigers’ losses have been to Warren County 30-24, Upperman 27-21, and to Watertown 21-14. Next week the Tigers have an open date and will wrap up the season at home over Cumberland County on October 30.

Macon County has defeated Smith County 43-7, Westmoreland 13-7, Mount Juliet Christian 39-12, Glencliff 1-0 (COVID win), Cumberland County 48-7, and Stone Memorial 29-20. The one loss was to Trousdale County 21-13. Next week, Macon County hosts White County and will conclude the season at home against Livingston Academy in two weeks.

Class 4A Region 3 standings and team records:
*DeKalb County: 4-3 (2-0)
*Macon County: 6-1 (2-0)
*Livingston Academy: 5-3 (2-1)
*Stone Memorial: 3-5 (1-3)
*Cumberland County: 0-8 (0-3)

Kick-off will be tonight at 7 p.m.

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 Evan Jones, Colby Barnes, and Isaiah Harrington.

WJLE’s “LIVE” play by play coverage starts at 7 p.m. with Luke Willoughby and Andrew Dixon
LISTEN LIVE ON WJLE AM 1480/ FM 101.7 and LIVE STREAMING at www.wjle.com.

October 15, 2020
By: Leigh Fuson

In a typical year, 4-H members from across Tennessee would have gathered at an annual event called “Roundup” at either UT Knoxville or UT Martin. During Roundup, youth participate in service projects, leadership and teambuilding activities, and have lots of fun with their friends from across the state. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, unfortunately this was not able to happen. Another big part of TN 4-H Roundup is the awards ceremony where project winners are recognized and thousands of dollars in scholarship money is awarded.

In order to still recognize these hardworking youth, a virtual ceremony was held on October 1st and aired on the Tennessee 4-H Facebook page. Among these individuals were three Dekalb County 4-H members: Clayton Crook, Jacklyn Kleparek, and Lily Martin. These youth completed a project portfolio last spring in their respected subject areas. Crook, a 2020 DCHS graduate, was named a state finalist in the Beef project and Martin, current Senior, in Nutrition, Health, and Fitness. Kleparek, a current Sophomore at DCHS, was named the Level 1 state winner in the Electric project and receives the Horizon Award. This pyramid shaped trophy symbolizes a 4-H’ers quest to explore new horizons as they develop life skills. It also comes with a $500 scholarship to UTK or UTM. This was DeKalb County 4-H’s first state project winner in almost ten years!

Another special ceremony also takes place at 4-H Roundup and was replaced with a virtual event: Vol State. Vol State is the highest level of recognition that a 4-H member can achieve in Tennessee 4-H. Recipients must be an active Honor Club and All-Star member and be recommended by their 4-H Agent. This year, there were 68 new Vol State recipients, including Lily Martin. Lily has been an active 4-H member since the 4th grade. Among her accomplishments are being on the state winning Outdoor Meat Cookery Team, state and national winning Poultry Judging team, attending the National Healthy Living Summit in Washington D.C., and serving as the DeKalb County Healthy Living Ambassador.

Although these awards were given out differently this year, they are still an honor to receive and have required a lot of hard work and dedication. Congratulations to these DeKalb County 4-H members! To learn more about 4-H and how you can get involved, please call 615-597-4945 or email lfuson2@utk.edu. 4-H is a proud part of UT/TSU Extension, the UT Institute of Agriculture, and the TSU Cooperative Extension Program. UT/TSU Extension provides equal opportunities in programs and employment through the cooperation of county, state, and federal governments. Programs are open to all people regardless of race, color, sex, national origin, or disability.

October 14, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for approximately 70 million Americans will increase 1.3 percent in 2021, the Social Security Administration announced today.

The 1.3 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 64 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2021. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 31, 2020. (Note: some people receive both Social Security and SSI benefits). The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Some other adjustments that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $142,800 from $137,700.

Social Security and SSI beneficiaries are normally notified by mail starting in early December about their new benefit amount. Most people who receive Social Security payments will be able to view their COLA notice online through their personal my Social Security account. People may create or access their my Social Security account online at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount.

Information about Medicare changes for 2021, when announced, will be available at www.medicare.gov. For Social Security beneficiaries receiving Medicare, Social Security will not be able to compute their new benefit amount until after the Medicare premium amounts for 2021 are announced. Final 2021 benefit amounts will be communicated to beneficiaries in December through the mailed COLA notice and my Social Security’s Message Center.

The Social Security Act provides for how the COLA is calculated. To read more, please visit www.socialsecurity.gov/cola.