Sports
TVC’s Best in Alexander, Trimble to Clash
By: Kelsi Steele , Steven Hernandez
Posted on:
Tri-Valley Conference titans are on a crash course towards Friday night.
Alexander (7-1, 5-0) and Trimble (7-1, 7-0) each sit atop their respective TVC divisions, the Ohio and Hocking, and each controls its own destiny en route to an outright conference crown.
Alexander just needs a win in week 10 against Meigs to secure the Ohio title, while Trimble needs either a win in the regular season’s final week against Federal Hocking or a Belpre loss over the next two weeks to secure the Hocking.
Though Friday’s match-up won’t affect either team’s conference title chances, bragging rights are still on the line.
For Trimble, a win against Federal Hocking is likely, making Friday’s match-up a great chance to get in a competitive game before the playoffs begin.
“It’s good for us. They have 3 or 4 games that are like this (this) season. We’ve only had one game like this and that’s the Miller game,” Trimble head coach Phil Faires said. “Win or lose, this is good for us. It’s going to be a good one.”
Trimble is riding a seven-game winning streak into the match, but that streak would stand at 36 games had it not been for its week one 26-20 loss to Nelsonville-York. Since then, the Buckeyes have lost seven straight, making the loss that much more sour, including a 36-0 loss to Alexander.
For those who want to use the Nelsonville-York result as an argument against Trimble, Faires is prepared.
“We want them to be overconfident. We aren’t the same team and NY isn’t either,” Faires said. “I knew our defense wasn’t ready. And Mount didn’t even play last week (against Alexander).”
Faires acknowledged the defense has come a long way since the season-opening loss, but recognized the talent which lies in Alexander’s defense.
Alexander is allowing just over 10 points per contest, a statistic Justice Jenkins can’t power through alone.
“We have to play like we did last week. It can’t be the justice Jenkins show,” Faires said. “ (We) have to get (Kamron) Curry and (Jacob) Hardy involved. Losey has to be on. Pick it up on offensive line. We have to play the best game we’ve played all year,”
Trimble and Alexander will kick off at 7:30 p.m. in Albany this Friday.