DeKalb at New Boston
NEW BOSTON, Texas—Two schools stand divided by just a 12.7 mile stretch of U.S. Highway 82 and face off today in what is called the oldest rivalry of Texas high school football.
DeKalb (1-0) travels to Lion Stadium to take on New Boston (0-1) in a heated Class 3A clash of foes.
The Bears are coming off a 30-20 win over Prairiland, while the Lions lost at Hooks, 20-6.
Last year, New Boston edged DeKalb, 19-15. Both Lion head coach Craig Fant and Bears’ head coach Eddy May expect another close ballgame.
“It is going to be a highly emotional game against a good rival,” Fant said. “The atmosphere will be great and there’s probably going to be a sold-out crowd. On offense, we are going to have to score when we get in the red zone; that hurt us last week. We got down there a few times but didn’t punch it in. We need to execute and sustain some drives.”
New Boston holds a 11-2 record over DeKalb in the last 13 games played. The Lions have outscored the Bears 473184 in those contests.
DeKalb last won in 2015 in a 24-2 win, and Coach May is looking for a similar outcome this season.
“It’s one of those games where you don’t have to get the kids up to play; they are always ready to play New Boston,” May said. “It will be a great game, and it won’t be over until that last buzzer goes off; it’s going to be a battle. We need to limit our turnovers and our penalties. Penalties stall our offensive drives. We need to execute, play hard, and keep our focus. We’ll have to keep our emotions in check.
Both teams will have to play their best defense in order to succeed.
“Defensively, we are going to have to contain their tailback,” Fant said. “We need to limit their big plays in the passing game. They have good tailbacks, a good quarterback, and good receivers. We are trying to find what our identity is and it is going to be a close, highly competitive game.”
May said that DeKalb has been working on wrapping up and tackling better in the past week. He looks for his Bear squad to be improved in that area.
“We are going to have to tackle better than we did last week,” May said. “We get to the ball just fine, but we need to tackle better to make sure we’re not giving up those extra yards after contact. If we do those things, we’ll be OK.”
Northeast Texas Schedule Atlanta at Daingerfield
DeKalb at New Boston Redwater at Hooks
Arp at Hughes Springs Prairiland at Queen City
Paul Pewitt at Jefferson
James Bowie at Overton Linden-Kildare at Clarksville Maud at Joaquin
North Lamar at Mount Pleasant