Wolverines Take Down The Trojans In Season Opener

By EDDY GIFFORD
Sports Writer

The Dade County High School Wolverine football team opened the 2021 season Friday night when they hosted the Gordon Lee Trojans. As always, a big crowd was on hand for the season opener and rivalry game.

DCHS kicked off to the Trojans and Nate Dufrene took the kick and raced 79 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown to put them on top 6-0 just 12 seconds into the game. The extra point attempt was blocked by the Wolverines.

Dade put together a long drive later in the first quarter and scored on a 5-yard run by Caden Cooper to tie the game 6-6 with 7:51 remaining in the quarter. The extra point kick by Caroline Tremmier was good and the Wolverines led 7-6.

Just before the end of the first quarter Dade put together another long drive on Gordon Lee and again Caden Cooper found the end zone, this time on a 13-yard run with 25 seconds left in the quarter to put the Wolverines on top 13-6. This time Abigail Tremmier kicked the extra point to make it 14-6.

Early in the second quarter the Wolverine defense was all over Trojan quarterback Kade Cowan as he threw a pass that was intercepted by Everett Christiansen who returned it for a touchdown with 11:03 remaining in the second quarter to put the Wolverines up 20-6. Caroline Tremmier kicked her second extra point of the game to make it 21-6 Wolverines.

Late in the second quarter the Gordon Lee put together a drive of their own and with 5:18 remaining in the first half they scored to make it 21-12. The try for the two-point conversion was stopped by the Wolverine defense and the score remained 21-12.

DCHS dominated play in the second half as the defense held the Trojans in check all night. The Wolverine offense moved the ball but was unable to find the end zone in the second half as they were hurt by penalties and other mistakes.

Overall, it was a big win for Dade as they out–gained Gordon Lee’s 311 yards to 80 yards on offense mixing in passes and runs to control the game.

Cayden Cooper led the Wolverine offense with 21 carries for 156 yards and Cody Williams added eight carries for 53 yards and Brodie Cooper had 11 carries for 45 yards.

Brodie Cooper completed four of six passes for 57 yards with Brodie Cooper having one catch for 37 yards, David Cole had two catches for 15 yards, and Zeke Wheeler had one catch for 5 yards.

On defense the Wolverines were led by Cody Williams who finished the night with 10 tackles, three assists, one tackle for loss, and one sack; Issac Pangle with 10 tackles, eight tackles for loss; and Landon Williams with eight tackles, two assists, two tackles for loss, and one quarterback pressure.

Other defensive standouts included Xander Lynch with five tackles, five assists; Caleb Massey three tackles; Dylan Dyer three tackles; Braylon Sullivan three tackles, one tackle for loss; Tyler Williams three tackles; Eli Kimball two tackles; Zac Smith two tackles; and Dakota Whitmore two tackles.

Coach Jeff Poston had this to say about the Wolverines opening win, “We won an extremely sloppy, but extremely physical football game. It was exactly the type of game we needed. I had some folks tell me it was boring because we didn’t throw it all over the place. I promise we will be throwing the ball this year, but sometimes you just need to line up and smash someone in the mouth, and last year we didn’t know how to do that, so it feels good knowing that we can play that way in 2021.”

Sloppy or not it was a good way to start the season for the Wolverines, a big win over a rival on your home field.

This week the Wolverines will travel to North Sand Mountain for their season opener and another rival game. DCHS will be looking to improve and pick up their second win of the season. They will be back at home next week when they host Trion.