Dyersburg hosts rival Dyer County to open season

 

Jason Peevyhouse

Editor, JP Productions Sports

Since returning to the field against each other four seasons ago, the rivalry between Dyersburg and Dyer County has been an even split with all four games going to the home team.

Every two seasons in the TSSAA, the schedules reset and the classifications are redrawn. Dyersburg and Dyer County both remained in their respective classes and the game, which has been the season opener since the 2023 season, remained in Week 1 as well.

This year, the game moves back to Dyersburg’s J.C. Sawyers Stadium for the start of the next home-and-home series between the two teams.

Coming out of last Friday’s STAR Physical Therapy-West Tennessee Bone & Joint Clinic High School Football Jamboree, Dyersburg Head Coach Bart Stowe felt good coming out of last week’s win over Lake County.

“I think we took steps in the right direction – offense and defense,” Stowe explained. “We were not live with special teams in the jamboree so this will be our first chance to have that this week.

“Hey, I feel like we’re taking steps in the right direction.”

Meanwhile, first-year Head Coach Justin Dubruiel said he could see his team can move the ball.

“I can see we can move the ball,” Dubruiel said. “(Quarterback) Landon (Daniels) did a good job of pulling it when he needed and airing the ball well.

“We found some open spots throwing the ball, too. I like where we were offensively. Defensively, we get behind the sticks a little bit and had a kid cramping a little bit. Trying to find some conditioning for those defensive backs. But, overall, excited from what we saw from Friday night. I feel like we competed well enough.”

Offensively, Stowe said the Choctaws’ spread the field.

“They make you defend the inside and the widest part of the field,” the Trojan head coach explained. “They do a good job of that.

“They have a good-looking offensive line with some size. And they have good backs. Their quarterback has experience coming back from last year and their receivers do a good job of catching the ball. And, once they catch it, do something with it. I think they’re a very balanced offense.”

 

Stowe said the Trojans have to play a good team defense to stop this threat.

“We’ve got to play great team defense – the defensive line, linebackers and secondary,” Stowe said. “Got to have a big night from all of them.

“No part of the defense is going to be more important than the others. No one position is going to be more important than another. We’ve got to have great pursuit, tackle well in space, but we’ve also got to tackle well inside. They’re going to run it in the box.”

Stowe added there is lots to defend with the Dyer County offense.

Dubruiel said the Trojan defense has a fast defensive line.

“They’re fast and they’re quick off the ball,” the Choctaw head coach said. “The outside linebackers can come in a hurry.

“They’re a lot quicker than what we may have seen before. In the Munford game, we saw a bunch of big and physical kids. Dyersburg is really quick up front and that gives us some concern to our linemen.”

Offensively, Dubruiel said the Choctaws need a big game from their offensive linemen, definitely.

“They’re the keys that make the cog role,” Dubruiel said. “Landon does a good job at quarterback in making sure we’re getting in the right spots but the offensive line makes everything roll.”

On the other side of the ball, Stowe said the Choctaws have some really good size on defense.

“Their defensive line has some good size,” Stowe pointed out. “Their linebackers have good size and they move well.

“Their secondary is athletic and very mobile. We know that we’ve got to bring our best game and get after it. Work hard and have a good night.”

To do this, Stowe repeated his mantra.

“You know what I am going to say – it starts up front,” the Trojan head coach said. “Our offensive line has got to set the tone and our quarterback has got to be a great leader for us and make plays in the passing game.

“Our running backs have got to protect the ball and run hard with great ball security. We’ve got to have great pad levels. Our receivers have to block and catch well. We’ve got to make plays running and throwing.”

“They’re good at what they do and they’re consistent at what they do,” Dubruiel said of the Trojan offense. “They’re physical up front and they have backs that can find the hole quick.

“Coach Stowe is really good at finding a weakness and exploiting it. He’s really good at what they do best. He’s very consistent in what they do.”

Dubruiel said the line and linebackers need to have big games for the Trojans.

“Those guys are the meat of what we do, defensively, in stopping the run,” Dubruiel said. “They’re a lot more run-heavy than they are pass. We need those six or seven guys that are in the box all ready to go.”

Special teams can be and have been important parts of rivalry games like these.

“We’ve got to cover kicks and catch kicks,” Stowe said. “We’ve got to protect for kicks – extra point, field goals and punting.

“Special teams play a huge part of the ball game.”

Dubruiel added special teams are a bit of a question right now since there have been no completely live reps for this part of the game.

“Who knows what happens when you start doing things live and moving pieces around,” the Choctaw head coach said. “May get an injury or may get a cramp or just someone who needs a breather.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at J.C. Sawyers Stadium.

“Looking forward to playing at home and seeing our county rival,” Stowe said. “We know it will be great competition and we look forward to it.”

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