Friday as the clock approached midnight, the 2011 Trigg County High School football team, including Jayven Jones (above), was introduced to the Perdue Field during Big Black Madness. Then, the first practice with pads and helmets began.
Trigg County High School’s football team was introduced to late Friday night crowd at Perdue Field before practicing for the first time this pre-season in helmets and pads just after midnight.
Burcham, who was recently named the new TCHS principal and subsequently stepped down as Wildcat head coach, was on hand and said he hopes to name the new coach this week.
Burcham is also in the process of finding a new athletic director, a position Jim Perrin will leave this month, and assistant athletic director, a position Burcham himself held before being named principal. Perrin recently was named the new softball coach at Christian County.
In Burcham’s stead, all of the coaches from last year’s staff were on hand, including offensive coordinator Coby Lewis, who was pleased with the Wildcats’ first performance in front of a crowd in 2011.
“Probably what hurt more than anything else was that everyone had on black,” Lewis said. “Overall, we’re pleased that the fans came out. We had good intensity, and it’s a good chance for the kids to get sore over the weekend.”
The staff was also joined by a pair of familiar faces in Dixie Jones and Tim Bush. Jones, a former TCHS head coach, was most recently coach at Hopkinsville, and Bush, a former Wildcat standout, was Jones’ assistant. They will be Wildcat assistant coaches this season.
“It’s fun,” Jones said of his first night back in black and white at Perdue Field. “I just wanted to come help these kids out, and they’ve made me as welcome as I could have imagined. And I think this team has a lot of potential.”
Despite a chance of rain throughout Friday and gates not opening until 9 p.m., Lewis said he was happy with the size of the crowd that came out to support the ‘Cats.
Part of the festivities included TCHS cheerleaders preparing the crowd for game-specific cheers to be used this season.
“If the fans are excited, our kids will be excited,” Lewis said.
Lewis said the team will hold a Black and White scrimmage beginning at 7 p.m. Friday. The team’s old white jerseys will be on sale, as will Locker Room Legends.
Trigg will participate in a three-way scrimmage Aug. 12 at Lone Oak against Murray and the host Purple Flash. The ‘Cats open the regular season Aug. 19 at home against Russellville.
