A14 —HERALD-CITIZEN, Cookeville, Tenn. — www.herald-citizen.com — Thursday, August 22, 2013
DeKalb County
Tigers like potential of 2013 team THOMAS CORHERN HERALD-CITIZEN Assistant Sports Editor
SMITHVILLE — After making a run at the District 8-AA championship last year before seeing their undefeated streak come to an end to eventual champion Livingston Academy in Week 10, one would expect DeKalb County ready to make another run at the title in 2013. There’s just one problem: The Tigers return just one offensive starter and three on defense. It leaves ninth-year head coach Steve Trapp in an interesting dilemma as DCHS will definitely have to rely on some youth. “There’s a lot of new names out there for the Tigers this year,” said Trapp. “We graduated a lot of guys that have been playing football here for quite a few years. I’m very excited about the opportunity and the potential with all the new names this year.” On offense, junior right guard Cameron Rhea is the only returning starter. “It’s certainly not a glamour position,” Trapp said. “He had his first start as a freshman in the playoffs and has ever since, so he knows what’s expected on that side of the ball. The rest of the O-line are all juniors that had a lot of playing time for us last year. I think we have a shot to be just as good if not better up front than we were last year. But the skill positions, there are definitely a lot of new names out there.” Junior running back Devonta Milan is one of those names who could be recognizable pretty quickly. “We didn’t get to use Devonta as much as I would have liked last year,” Trapp said. “He had some injury concerns early on in the year with his ankle, and I still don’t think he ever got over it to 100 percent last year. We had a lot of gameplan stuff for him last year, but we just weren’t able to use it. He’s looked really good so far this spring. As long as we can keep him healthy, I think he’ll have a big year for us. He’ll be backed up by Luke Boss, another junior running back who missed all of last year with a dislocated elbow. He’s anxious to get back on the field, and I’m expecting big things from him on the defensive side as well. “I really like our running back crew. I think with those two guys back there, we can do something really special.” At quarterback, the Tigers will start freshman Steven Jennings, who will have a couple of older guys to throw the ball to, including juniors Lane Ball, Aaron Patterson and Dustin Warner as well as sophomore A.J. Mooneyham. “I’m very excited about our potential at quarterback,” Trapp said. “You look at Jennings when he walks out on the field and he
2013 Tigers schedule Aug. 23 at Warren County Aug. 30 at Stone Memorial Sept. 6 Livingston Academy Sept. 13 White County Sept. 20 Cannon County Oct. 4 Trousdale County Oct. 11 York Institute Oct. 18 at Macon County Oct. 25 at Upperman Nov. 1 at Smith County BOLD denotes District 8-AA games
Quick Facts District: 8-AA (4A playoffs) Head coach: Steve Trapp Career record: 40-47 (9th) Record at school: 40-47 (9th) Assistant coaches: Michael Shaw (defensive coordinator, LB, WR), Clarence Trapp (OL, DL), Bruce Parsley (WR, DB), Kevin Young (OL, DL) Returning lettermen: N/A Returning starters, offense: 1 Returning starters, defense: 3 2012: 10-2 overall, 4-1 District 8-AA (2nd) Last playoff appearance: 2012, lost to Livingston Academy in second round
doesn’t look like a freshman. When you see him throw the football, it even surprised me. I watched him play in middle school and knew he could throw the football, but his composure and poise. ... He is still just a freshman, so there is a developmental phase and we’ll be doing that for the next four years, but he can really throw the football. He’s a smart, smart kid. That’s just a bonus for me. If he makes a mistake — and it will happen and it has happened — he learns from it. You coach him up one time and he’s got it.” Up front, juniors Josh Stone and Austin Ellis are at tackle, while juniors Jacob Hale and Rhea are at guard, while John Bradford is at center. Defense is where the Tigers see a little more age and experience. Boss and Stone at end, and senior Eli Gill and Rhea at tackle help anchor the defensive line, while junior Lance Ball, senior Patrick Spare and Lane Ball serve as linebackers. Warner and freshman Drew Castorena are at defensive back, while Patterson and Mooneyham are at safety. Matthew Poss, a freshman, will be the Tigers’ kicker and punter, while Milan and Warner will split return duties. “We don’t talk about the past a whole lot,” Trapp said, “but I said the ’08 team was special and last year’s team was special.
DeKalb County junior running back DEVONTA MILAN They had to have a down year to understand what it takes and I don’t want this group to go through it. The biggest difference was when those guys took over, we pretty much had to play with a JV team with freshmen and sophomores. It’s different this year because while we do only have three seniors, we have a big junior class. We have a lot of upperclassmen on the field. We also have some really talented young guys. We have three freshmen starting for us with Jennings, Drew Castorena and our kicker, Matthew Poss. I just really like the mixture of what we’ve got. We’re almost going to have the same identical team for the next two years. It’s going to bode well for us.” DCHS will play a tough schedule as well as the Tigers travel to Warren County this week, then to Stone Memorial on Week 1. DCHS will then play all five of its home games in a six-week stretch as it hosts Livingston Academy (Sept. 6) in a championship rematch, White County (Sept. 13), Cannon County (Sept. 20), Trousdale County (Oct. 4) and York Institute (Oct. 11). The Tigers wrap up their season with three straight road games, traveling to Macon County on Oct. 18, Upperman on Oct. 25 and Smith County on Nov. 1.
DeKalb County head coach STEVE TRAPP