July 25, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
Its almost football time!
The DeKalb County High School Tiger Football Program is gearing up for the 2021 campaign now that the TSSAA dead period requirements have passed and practices are underway with sights set on the season opener at Warren County on Friday August 20 at 7 p.m. WJLE will have LIVE coverage.
During Tiger Media Day Friday, Tiger Coach Steve Trapp talked about what’s in store for this team over the next month.
“At this moment (Friday) we are in our second week back in after the dead period. Our first week was helmet only. This week is considered the heat acclimatization period so we had to do two days in helmet and then three days in helmet and shoulder pads. We will have a sleep over camp on Friday night and then wake up and have a practice Saturday morning. After that Saturday practice we will have covered everything we need to cover. From that point on it’s about making it better and then tweaking it to whoever we are playing for that week. After this week we will go full pads. We will have a scrimmage next Friday, July 30 against Gordonsville there. The following week, August 6 we will have a scrimmage at home versus Friendship Christian. Those start times typically are at 6 p.m. and then the week after that we will have a Jamboree on a Saturday, August 14 at Gordonsville and we will play Clay County for two quarters,” said Coach Trapp.
“We have a lot of guys coming back with a lot of experience. For some it will be their first opportunity to make a name for themselves in this program but we have a lot of confidence and faith that they will do that. There are a lot of juniors and seniors out there on the field. I think we have one sophomore who will be a starter. Last year we had a freshman. It’s about who can get out there and produce but we feel like we have a lot of quality guys this year,” Coach Trapp continued.
This year a new assistant coach will be roaming the sidelines with Coach Trapp and the other assistants.
“Our new coach is Dalton Stallings. He will be working with the running backs and safeties. He got hired in to lead our new ISS program here in the school system. We are excited to have him on board. He has been a great addition and fits in well with the culture of our coaching staff,” said Coach Trapp.
Stallings will be filling the void left by former assistant coach Thomas Cagle, who is succeeding David Gash as Assistant Principal. The other assistant coaches will be returning including Corey Rathbone, Michael Shaw, Brad Trapp, and Luke Green.
The same foes from last year will make up the 2021 DCHS Football Schedule with the exception of Goodpasture, a private school from the Nashville area, which will replace Grundy County. As for the region, the Upperman Bees, a familiar regular season opponent of the Tigers in recent years, will be joining DeKalb County and the other four teams that make up Class 4A, Region 4.
“We have been in a region with them before but now they are moving up from Class 3A to 4A so they will be in the Region with us (DeKalb County) Livingston Academy, Macon County, Cumberland County, and Stone Memorial. The addition of Upperman is the only change in the makeup of Region 4. We like challenges and this gives us a chance to step up even more,” said Coach Trapp.
In addition to the region foes, the Tigers will also again meet Warren County, Cannon County , Smith County and Watertown this fall
The 2021 DCHS Football schedule is as follows (* Region Opponent):
August 14: Jamboree at Gordonsville: 7 p.m.
August 20: Warren County- Away: 7 p.m.
August 27: Smith County-Home: 7 p.m.
September 3: Macon County*- Away: 7 p.m.
September 10: Watertown-Away: 7 p.m.
September 17: Cumberland County*-Home: 7 p.m.
September 24: Cannon County (Homecoming): 7 p.m.
October 1: Livingston Academy*- Away: 7 p.m.
October 8: BYE- NO GAME
October 15: Upperman*- Home: 7 p.m.
October 22: Goodpasture- Home: 7 p.m.
October 29: Stone Memorial*- Away: 7 p.m.