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.