The DeKalb County High School Tigers football team have begun to ramp up the action last week, getting in their first scrimmage of the season against a good opponent. The scrimmage showed that the Tigers are a strong team, but it also cost DCHS a couple of players.
The DCHS Tigers traveled to Gordonsville last Friday to take on the Gordonsville Tigers in the first field test of the season. DeKalb’s performance was very promising, with strong showings on both offense and defense.
“Our varsity basically did three series, and out of those three series we scored three times,” Head Coach Steve Trapp told the Smithville Review. “Gordonsville’s three series, they didn’t score at all, so we did what we were supposed to do in that regard.”
“Isaac Knowles scored two passing touchdowns, and in those two catches it was probably 130 yards,” Coach Trapp continued. “Then, our last play offensively, Colby Barnes, took it 70 yards to the house with a rushing touchdown.”
“We did some good things in the air, and we did some good things on the ground. We saw some things we really liked, and our guys played hard. There’s mistakes made every time, but it’s about watching the tapes, learning from our mistakes, and working our hardest to win at those.”
While the scrimmage went well for DeKalb, it also proved to be costly. “Unfortunately we had a couple of guys get injured,” Trapp explained. “We never want to see that. It’s going to be about who can step up to fill those roles. It’s part of the game, but we don’t like seeing it.”
During the practice game, right guard Bryan Portillo, which is a third year starter, injured his knee. Then, Tyler Estes, which is Portillo’s backup on offense and played linebacker on defense, broke his arm. “When you’ve got 42 players in makes it tough when anybody goes down,” Trapp said. Coach Trapp said that while Estes could possibly play with a cast in a few weeks, he hopes Portillo is back on the field soon depending on the diagnosis.
On a more positive side, Coach Trapp said that the junior varsity team also did very well during the scrimmage. “Our JV squad had a 10-play series with them, and in those 10 plays our guys ended up scoring twice. We had a big touchdown pass from Jordon Parker to Drew Dakas, and then Ari White got a rushing touchdown in that series as well. They were able to hold Gordonsville out of the end zone also.”
“There’s definitively things we need to work on,” Trapp said. “We were really proud of how they competed. Our defense I thought looked really good.”
The Tigers have another scrimmage this Friday at home, against Friendship Christian at 6:30 p.m.
