Dresden Enterprise - Covering Weakley County Like the Dew from Heaven for 118 Years

    The Westview Chargers saw their record drop to 3-2 on the season on Friday night as the Camden Lions took a 42-14 win over the Chargers on their home field at Hardy Graham Stadium on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Martin.
    The Lions, coached by former Westview assistant Kevin Ward, have been close to claiming victory over the Chargers in the last couple contests. In 2007, the Lions led until a late rally gave the Chargers a 28-27 win. The previous season, the two teams battled in a defensive showcase, with Westview getting the 7-6 win.
    The Lions got on the board early as a 59-yard kickoff return by Andy Travis gave the Camden offense excellent field position. From there, a pair of runs by Travis and Devon White put the Lions on the Westview 23-yard line. After a five-yard penalty took the Lions inside the red zone, it took only two plays for the Camden offense to get on the board as a three-yard run by Michael Gaskin set up a 15-yard touchdown scamper by White to break the scoreless tie. The PAT from Danny Kim made the score 7-0 with 9:41 left in the first frame.
    The Chargers were able to get their first significant drive going late in the opening frame. A 10-yard run by Demarcus Williams kept the drive alive early, picking up a much-needed first down. Another big run from Williams, a 17-yard gain, opened the second stanza and took the Chargers across midfield to the Lions 44-yard line. J.C. Griggs picked up another first down with a six-yard run to the Camden 32. But, it was there that the Camden defense stiffened and forced the Chargers to go for a lengthy field goal attempt. Though Charger kicker Hyuntae Kim’s kick was long enough, it sailed wide, leaving the Chargers trailing by seven with 8:21 left in the half.
    The Lions took advantage of the missed field goal. After picking up a pair of first downs and moving near midfield, Travis broke free for a 54-yard touchdown run. Kim’s PAT put the Lions ahead 14-0 with 4:49 left in the first half.
The Chargers, though, were able to answer back. A 63-yard return on the ensuing kickoff by Griggs led to three straight runs by Williams to open the drive and take the Chargers down to the 1-yard line. From there, two plays later, Williams capped the drive with a one-yard run. The PAT failed, leaving the Chargers trailing 14-6 with 2:10 left in the first half.
    But, the Lions again had an answer as a 19-yard run by Gaskin was followed a couple plays later when the quarterback found an open Travis for a 35-yard scoring strike. Kim’s extra point pushed the Lion lead to 21-6 at the half.

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Junior wideout has career day against Murray State

   Coming into Saturday night’s game against Ohio Valley Conference and regional rival Murray State, wide receiver Roren Thomas had four total touchdowns on the 2008 season, and trailed kicker Tom Hansen for the team lead in points. After tonight’s 63-38 win, it’s safe to say The University of Tennessee at Martin has a new team leader in scoring. The 6-0, 175 pound junior from St. Louis doubled his season output by scoring four touchdowns to lead the Skyhawks to a 2-0 OVC mark and their fourth straight victory over Murray State.
     “The coaches put me in position to be a playmaker,” Thomas said. “I just have to execute. We worked hard throughout this week, and when you work hard, you have more confidence.”
    Thomas made sure UT Martin (4-1) never trailed in the game, taking the opening kickoff back 83 yards to the house, and after Hansen converted the extra point, the Skyhawks had a 7-0 lead just 14 seconds into the game. It was the first time a Skyhawk had returned a kickoff for a touchdown since Jessie Burton did it against Tennessee Tech on Sept. 27, 2007.
    After the Skyhawk defense held Murray State to a three-and-out on their opening drive, Thomas struck again, hauling in a touchdown pass from 12 yards out on a 3rd-and-7 play from junior Cade Thompson to put the Skyhawks up 14-0 after Hansen’s PAT at the 11:40 mark.
    After Murray State (1-4, 0-1 OVC) got on the board thanks to a six yard pass from Jeff Ehrhardt to Daniel Ard, the Skyhawks were forced to punt. Adam Ivey unleashed a towering punt that pinned the Racers at their own 3 yard line.
    On the second play of MSU’s drive, Ehrhardt flung a pass out to the left flat, but junior safety Dontrell Miller read the play the whole way, stepping in front of the intended Racer receiver and taking the interception back ten yards untouched to give UT Martin a 21-7 advantage (Hansen PAT was good) less than 12 minutes into the game.
    Miller was just getting started. Less than 90 seconds later on the next Murray State possession from midfield, the snap out of shotgun formation sailed high over Ehrhardt’s head. Miller charged toward the ball, scooping it up at the MSU 32 yard line and speeding to the end zone.
    Through one quarter, the Skyhawks had only 38 yards of total offense, but superb play from all three phases saw UT Martin gain a 28-7 advantage.

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Gleason, Greenfield win close junior high battles

By Jason Peevyhouse
Sports Editor

    In what has always been one of the best junior high rivalries in Weakley County, another thrilling chapter was written on Thursday night as the Gleason Bulldogs rallied from behind at the half to get a late fourth-quarter score to take a 12-8 win over Dresden at Gleason.
    Dresden Middle threatened to put the game away early in the final frame as a recovered fumble gave the ball back to the Lions. But, an interception by Chase Ezell gave the ball back to the Bulldogs at the Dresden 40-yard line. From there, the Bulldogs went to a balanced running attack, getting runs from Blake Taylor, Austin Perry, Ian Legens, Will Clark and Ezell to take the ball down to the Dresden 6-yard line. However, a 10-yard penalty threatened to become costly for the Bulldogs. After an incomplete pass, Taylor found an open Perry for a 17-yard touchdown pass. The PAT failed, but the Bulldogs held the 12-8 lead to 23.9 seconds left in the game.
    The Lions went for the big play on the first play of the ensuing drive, but Taylor snagged an errant pass to seal the win for the Bulldogs.
    Dresden had taken the lead at the end of the first half. A halfback pass from Logan Thomas to Devan Raymer took the Lions down to the Gleason 20-yard line. After a two-yard run from Thomas, Davis Moran found an open Ryne Vinson for an 18-yard scoring strike. Thomas added the two-pointer to give the Lions an 8-6 lead at the break.

(Read the rest of this story in this week's edition of the Dresden Enterprise!)