By George Starks |
NEW MADISON- Opening night for the second season for Tri-Village. The Patriots will hit the road to do battle with Waynesfield Goshen. Tigers head coach Chris Sommers is in his first year and led his squad to a 7-3 mark.
Tri-Village ended its season with a 8-2 mark.
Patriots head coach Matt Hopkins says his kids has a positive outlook for Friday night.
“My kids are fired up,” said Hopkins in a phone interview. “EWe actually had a scrimmage with them back in the summer. They are athletic, hard nosed tough kids. The previous two years they’ve Ben 25-0 and the went 7-3 this year so you know they are coached very well.”
With nearly identical records, Hopkins admits its not going to be easy.
“This is going to be a dog fight,” Hopkins admitted. “They want to run the ball and we want to throw the ball all over the field if we’re going to expoit thier defense. We have good recievers and good running backs, all of them can catch the ball. We have a well rounded offense.”
On defense the Patriots shine. In its last three games, the Patriots have allowed 24 total points, including a 45-0 shutout against National Trail while going 5-0 down the stretch.
“We feel our defense represents us well,” said Hopkins. “We’ve had some great goal line stands and we’ve shut down some decent running games.”
In the trenches, the Patriots have shined. The offensive line has protected Sagester well, allowing their quarterback ample time to find open receivers while the defensive line has stopped some good running games in its tracks.
This game could very well come down to the last team to score.
Photo: Tri-Village junior Trey Sagester was a huge part of a victory Friday night.