Peabody hitting the road again

TRENTON – Walter Kilzer Stadium is the home field for the Peabody football team. It’s one of the nicest facilities in rural West Tennessee as the stadium opened in 2010.

But it’s been relegated to one of the nicest glorified practice fields in rural West Tennessee as the Golden Tide have played every game dating back to their regular season finale at Gleason on the road.

“We knew that was probably how it was going to be after we finished third in the region, so we were ready to do it,” said Peabody head coach Shane Jacobs. “You know what, if playing all over the state means we compete for a state championship, then I think everybody in this football program is prepared to do that.”

They won’t have to go to that extreme, but the Peabody football bus drivers will have earned some overtime pay at the end of the month with trips to Memphis, Union City, Dresden and Nashville logged before Peabody even has a chance to plan to go to Cookeville.

Right now, Nashville Christian is the only team standing in the Golden Tide’s way of making those plans.

Nashville Christian has been a team that’s been to the state semifinals in recent years, falling to Union City the past two years and Huntingdon before that. But this is the year the program has been looking for as players like Mr. Football finalist and University of Tennessee commit Daniel Bituli are seniors and wanting a shot at state before they graduate.

Jacobs said he didn’t know if their lack of success in the semifinals combined with Peabody’s success last year in winning a state championship will help the Golden Tide in this game.

“Yeah we’ve won some big games the last two years, but we’re still dealing with high school kids,” Jacobs said. “And we’re out of our routine this week with no school.

“We had no school because of fall break the week of Dresden, and we practiced in the mornings that week. Nothing seemed right about that night even before the game. So we’re going at our normal practice time most of the week to do our best to stay in that routine.”

The plan then is to keep the routine going all the way to the part on Friday night where Peabody scores more points than the other team, which has happened in every game since that 39-0 loss to Dresden on Oct. 2.

“We came into the locker room right after that game, and I told them we didn’t need to panic because we were a better team than what we showed that night,” Jacobs said. “And the guys have gone out and proved that each week since then.

“Are we good enough to beat Nashville Christian at their place? That’s something we’ll find out for sure Friday night, but I like our guys’ chances if they come out and play like they’ve played the last two weeks. Nashville Christian is too good to overlook, so hopefully we’re ready to bring them our best, because that’s what we’ll get from them.”

Brandon Shields, 425-9751

Today’s game

What: Peabody at Nashville Christian

When: 7 p.m.

Admission: $8

Radio: WTKB-FM 93.7