Lions, Chargers to Clash Saturday at UTM

By RON PARK

ron@magicvalleypublishing.com

High School Football season is here, and the Dresden Lions and Westview Chargers will be facing off under the big lights Saturday night at UT Martin’s football stadium for the big season opener.

Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Last year the Chargers won out over Dresden 48-13 to start the 2021 season with bragging rights in the cross-county but non-region rivalry.

Both the Lions and Chargers come into Saturday’s game with preseason jamboree victories under their belts – Dresden with a 21-0 win over McCracken County and Westview with a 27-0 win over JCS.

Both Dresden Head Coach Keith Hodge and Westview Head Coach Jarod Neal said it would likely be a tough contest, and they both said the quality of their practices this week will have a lot to do with how things turn out Saturday night.

“First we have to have a great week of practice,” said Hodge. “We need to be zeroed in as a unit and have quality days. It's that time of year where the whole team is so important in preparation for our opponent. It's always hard to simulate the other team's offense and defense, but I think we have a group that will do a great job.”

“Dresden is a very good football team and will play their best against us,” said Neal. “We are going to have to have a great week of practice and play well to come out on top.”

“Westview is very explosive, so we'll have to play strong team defense and try to limit their big plays,” added Hodge. “Defensively, they return a lot of starters and they haven't missed much of a beat. It’s definitely going to be a tough game, but we're looking forward to putting all our hard work to the test.”