Two teams win district, while one's dreams begin to fade away

The week started off well enough, but the ending was one most never saw coming.

Before sharing thoughts about the state of the Dyersburg football program, there are far more positive things to speak of concerning the athletic programs at the high school.

On Tuesday, what has to be considered a capacity crowd gathered at the gymnasium to witness the Lady Trojans attempt to end the volleyball regular season undefeated in district play.

The opponent was Crockett County and the team, along with the largest crowd in recent memory to witness a volleyball match, was vocal throughout the contest. The Lady Trojan squad accomplished something the football team was unable to do four days earlier by defeating the Lady Cavaliers to run the table in district play. With the win the talented squad will host the district tournament beginning on Monday.

If you haven't had the chance to watch the team this year, it will be well worth the price of admission to attend the tournament. Dyersburg received a first-round bye and will play the winner of Haywood County and Ripley on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

On Thursday, a trip to Martin was in order to see if the Lady Trojan soccer team could follow suit and end their season undefeated in district play as well. After a very physical contest, Dyersburg headed home with a hard-earned 1-0 victory over the Lady Chargers.

Though admittedly still trying to get a fire burning for the game of soccer, these girls are good and should pose a serious threat to anyone in postseason play. With an overall record of 10-1-1, a trip to the big dance may be in the cards for this talented squad.

The team has one regular-season game remaining on Monday when they host Munford at DMS and yes, a large crowd should be in attendance to applaud the squad for their efforts.

OK, the above part was easy, this is going to be a little harder, actually a lot harder.

On Friday night against Obion County, the Trojan football team lost. Plain and simple Dyersburg was outplayed in every sense of the word. While a loss is something hard for some to take (since they haven't come that often), what transpired at the game was utterly embarrassing.

Though not one to point fingers, call out individuals or question coaches, through these eyes there is a storm brewing that needs immediate attention.

Though knowing about certain problems for some time now, the hope that maybe they would be handled internally is evidently something that's not going to happen.

One to rarely lose sleep over much of anything as my wife would tell you, Friday night was a long one to say the least.

Is the program self-destructing? That is the question that kept running through my mind over and over on the drive home and throughout the night, continuing into Saturday.

A lot can be learned from losing, especially the character of the players, coaches and yes, even the fans.

On Friday night what was seen was the worst culmination of negative energy ever witnessed at a high school football game. Nothing more, nothing less, it was really that bad and something I hope never rears its ugly head again.

What are coaches there for? Seriously, isn't the betterment of the kids why a coach coaches? There is a fine line between motivating and demoralizing, and evidently the dam broke Friday night when players felt demoralized.

At the same token, where is the respect for the coaches? Though not totally sure, but something I've realized has been missing that before Friday I couldn't really put a finger on is discipline. It's not only missing, it's gone.

Players need to have it, coaches need to have it, and yes, even the fans need to show it while at the games. It may be hiding somewhere, but if someone knows where it is somebody needs to go get it, and in a hurry.

Perhaps I'm just used to the way things used to be, but the way they are now is developing into a recipe for disaster.

What will it take for things to get better? Though just a humbled opinion, but head coach Bart Stowe has his hands full with this one and the question will not be easily answered. Yes, it will take time.

The senior players have been through three head coaches in four years, but as of today there are three games left. Never mind the playoffs, worry about the next three games.

Yes, there is time to right the ship, but continuing down the same path seen on Friday and this ship will sink faster than any of us realize.

Your comments are welcome at msmith@ stategazette.com.