By GALE CAVNESS
pressbox1.com

DYERSBURG – After dispatching Memphis Trezevant in the friendly confines of J.C. Sawyers Stadium to open the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s prep football playoffs, the Dyersburg Trojans face a road trip to meet Memphis Mitchell in round two.

A long road trip.

Scheduled to play at J.P. Freeman Stadium in southern Shelby County, near the Mississippi state line, DHS head coach Darren Bowling hopes his squad can perform well, get a road win and secure a “home” game in the playoff quarterfinals.

“We’d certainly like to be at home, but we can’t do anything about that,” Bowling said. “Hopefully, we can take care of business and get back in the county next week, either at home or at Newbern.”

Fans headed to the Mitchell game should take I-240 around the west side of Memphis, careful to follow the Jackson, Miss., signs to the south instead of I-40 across the Mississippi River into Arkansas. Stay on 240 to Exit 5B, the U.S. 51 exit that will put traffic onto Elvis Presley Blvd.

Stay on Elvis Presley Blvd. past Graceland and beyond major intersections at both Raines Road and Shelby Drive. Turn right onto Holmes Road, the next major intersection. Continue on Holmes Road across the railroad track and past Whitehaven Golf Course (on the right) to the intersection of Holmes Road and Tulane Road.

The stadium address is 5250 Tulane Road.

The Trojans, 49-26 winners over the visiting Bears in the playoff opener, could get a rematch with rival Dyer County in the quarterfinals if both triumph in second-round play. That battle would take place at Choctaw Stadium in Newbern, just a few short minutes north of the DHS campus.

In front of a crowd estimated at 5,000, Dyersburg suffered a 24-21 loss to its intra-county rivals at home on Oct. 26. With the win, the Choctaws claimed the Region 7-3A crown, spoiled the Trojans’ unbeaten season and set the “Black and Gold” up to travel against higher-seeded opponents, like Mitchell, the Region 8 champion.

Should Dyersburg win on the road and Dyer County stumble at home against Haywood County, the Trojans would be the host team in round three against the Tomcats. Haywood County lost to both Dyer County and Dyersburg in regular-season play and was the third seed in the region behind the two locals.

Haywood County (9-2) advanced last week with a 13-6 victory on the road against Memphis Sheffield. Mitchell (8-3) moved into the second round by besting Ripley 29-7.

In opening-round competition against Trezevant (4-7), Dyersburg found itself in an early shootout. The teams swapped out scores in the first quarter with the Trojans holding a one-point, 15-14 edge, headed into the second stanza.

A string of 22 unanswered points by DHS in the third quarter put the contest out of reach.

Dyersburg took a quick lead when senior quarterback Logan Parker scored on a six-yard scamper just 3:20 into the contest. Kyle Youmans booted the first of his three conversion kicks to make it a 7-0 affair.

Senior bruiser Beau Liljenquist got the march going with a 19-yard burst up the middle on the first play from scrimmage. Despite leaving the game with a knee injury midway through the third quarter, “Bull” finished the night with 148 yards rushing on 16 carries.

Trezevant answered less than three minutes later with a touchdown and two-point conversion to take a brief, 8-7 advantage.

It would be the Bears’ only lead of the night.

At the 3:35 mark of the opening frame, Parker hit Rashad Taylor with an 11-yard scoring strike to put the Trojans back on top. Taylor added a two-point conversion run to put DHS ahead 15-8 and in the lead for good.

Trezevant pulled within a point late in the quarter, only to see the Trojans break it open in the second quarter.

Taylor was on the receiving end of another Logan strike for a 20-yard touchdown just six seconds into the second period. Youmans made it 22-14.

After giving up the early points, Dyersburg’s defense appeared to be breaking again until Bobby Ellis made a big play. Ellis picked off a Bears pass inside the Trojans five-yard line and rambled 90 yards before being dragged down from behind. On first-and-goal at the Trezevant four, Liljenquist bulled his way into the end zone to give DHS some breathing room.

Jason Click tacked on a two-point conversion run and the romp was on.

Liljenquist added another TD burst in the closing seconds of the half and Youmans booted another PAT to give the Trojans a 37-14 cushion at the break.

Ellis found the end zone twice after intermission to close out the Dyersburg scoring and set up the two-hour road trip.