H.S. FOOTBALL: Lexington Tigers are hungry for more

• Lexington has won 31 consecutive regular season district games
• Tylan Johnson returns to play quarterback
• Several linemen must be replaced

LEXINGTON – As usual, expectations are high this summer in Lexington for the local high school football team.

They probably should be as the Tigers are coming off consecutive seasons making it to the second round of the Class 4A playoffs and aren't having to replace much in terms of contributing personnel that graduated last year.

Even though they lost fullback Tanner Kizer, the rest of the backfield is back.

Quarterback Tylan Johnson is back, and he was playing smarter than a freshman usually does last season. Tariqious Tisdale is back at the running back position. His size and speed will be hard to stop and has him on the radar screens of some colleges in the Southeastern Conference entering his junior season.

Dillon Smith will be the senior of the main group in the backfield, but he's been through enough wars for the Tigers he can help with whatever they might need as the season progresses.

The good thing about this group, according to head coach Bryant Hollingsworth, is it's made of young guys who aren't satisfied with what they accomplish in the regular season and want to do whatever it takes to last longer than one or two weeks in the postseason.

"This group is hungry," Hollingsworth said. "None of them were on the team that went to the semifinals a few years back. The seniors were freshmen the year we lost in the first round, and they remember how they felt that night and all offseason.

"They also remember what it felt like to lose to Liberty in the playoffs after beating them in the regular season. They know they are capable of more than they've accomplished."

The line is smaller this year compared to years past with no big guys like LaMarcus Boales or Taylor Ballagh on the roster, but Hollingsworth said he's confident in those players' abilities as well.

Brandon Shields, 425-9751

Lexington Tigers

• 2013 record: 9-3

• The Tigers haven't lost a regular season District 14-AA game since South Side in early 2009 – a 31-game win streak.

• Lexington's non-district schedule is noticeably more difficult than in past years with teams like North Side, Crockett County, Riverside, Milan and Hardin County.