Dresden smokes Peabody

TRENTON — Highly anticipated given it featured the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked teams in Tennessee’s Class 1A, Friday’s game between Dresden and Trenton Peabody didn’t deliver on drama. But it provided plenty of insight.

For the host Golden Tide it suggested a need to assess several areas of weakness exposed by Dresden, and for those visiting Lions it foreshadowed two solid weeks of hype before the still-unbeaten group takes on juggernaut Union City.

Dresden dominated from the start Friday, whipping last year’s 2A champ 39-0.

The second-ranked Lions (7-0, 5-0 Region 7-1A) led 26-0 at halftime, boosted by an aggressive front seven, timely forced turnovers and a passing game Peabody (5-2, 3-2) was unable to stop.

Dresser Winn completed six touchdown passes, two each to Alex Warren and Brice Williams and one each to Quincy McDonald and Austin Thomas.

“Most receivers in high school, when they hear footsteps, when they hear a safety coming, they get scared and shy away from the ball,” Winn said. “But our guys, especially Alex Warren and Quincy McDonald and Brice Williams and Austin Thomas, they don’t shy away from it. They’re not scared they’re going to get hit. They take the yardage.”

Dresden’s defense frequently hit Jacob Taylor or tackled running back Brandon Johnson near or behind the line of scrimmage. Williams, Warren and Ricco Taylor made interceptions, and the Lions forced a fumble.

Dresden coach Derek Rang jumped into the semicircle of his players gathered on the field, shouted “How ‘bout them Dresden Lions?” and his players jumped around a minute to celebrate a dominant performance.

But they can’t dwell on it, especially with the top-ranked Golden Tornadoes looming.

“They’ve got to understand you can’t get too relaxed with it. Got a big win but you’ve got to be hungrier,” he said. “You’ve got to work harder. We’ve got a great challenge in two weeks. We’ve got the bye week at a great time.”

The lopsided first half and a brief, chilly drizzle sent a handful of Tide fans home near halftime, and those who remained could be heard discussing what went wrong.

Peabody’s two losses have come to the highest-ranked teams in 1A, but the Tide offered no counterpunch Friday.

“I just don’t have a lot of answers right now,” Peabody coach Shane Jacobs said. “I’m very surprised at how poorly we played. I’m just disappointed.”

Jacobs said he felt like he let his players down and called them a “high-character group.” He expects to play Dresden in the playoffs.

“Kids are more resilient than adults, and come Monday they won’t be hard to motivate,” Jacobs said of his players. “They’ll come in ready to play and they’ll get better from this. They will.”

While Dresden is off next week, Peabody will visit Lake County.

Craig Thomas, 425-9634