By GALE CAVNESS
pressbox1.com

NEWBERN - An anxious and focused Dyer County football team made head coach Adam Renshaw proud in Friday night’s 1st Look Scrimmage at Choctaw Stadium.

And that was while they were still seated in the bleachers.

Ready to take the field in a game-like situation for the initial time in 2008, the Choctaws could hardly contain their excitement while waiting to pop pads in front of a large home crowd. The result was a fast start, two quick touchdowns, a lot of aggression and a comfortable 13-0 victory over Gibson County.

“I was impressed with the team before the game,” the DC coach said after the contest. “They were sitting in the bleachers, but you could see they just couldn’t wait to get onto the field.”

In about five minutes, the Choctaws found the end zone with ease, forced a turnover and scored again. The Pioneers, stunned at the eruption, never recovered.

Dyer County’s win put the cap on an evening of primetime practice for eight area teams in the ninth annual affair, sponsored by Sports Plus Rehab Centers. Heath, Ky., topped Lake County 26-16 in the opener, Halls bested Ripley 22-16 in the second match an d Brighton bumped Haywood County 12-6 before the Choctaws and Pioneers took to the turf.

Once the team in orange took the field, they took control.

Directed by senior quarterback Peyton Lucas, the Choctaws wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. After moving from their own 30 to the Gibson County 25 in two big plays, Lucas hit Edward Powell on a slant that the swift-footed senior turned toward the middle of the field, into the clear and into the end zone.

Gabriel Millan’s conversion kick was on line and DC had a quick 7-0 edge.

Gibson County’s attempt to answer was short-lived. Only seconds after taking possession, DC junior Kody King stripped a Pioneer runner of the ball and the Choctaws were back in business again at the opposition’s 35-yard line.

Lucas called Powell’s number again and the combination put the game’s final points on the board. The point after failed, but Dyer County had done the damage.

“We got off to a good start,” Renshaw added. “There’s nothing wrong with that, but we can’t come out the first two minutes and do all we’re going to do.

“We’ve got to be more than a flash in the pan at the beginning of the ballgame.”

Dyer County, the defending Region 7-3A champions, has 18 seniors coming back from a team that went two rounds into the post-season state playoffs and ended the 2007 slate with a 10-2 mark. The Choctaws dropped only a road game at McNairy County in the regular season and the playoff game to Haywood County, a team they had defeated in the regular season.

“We had several good things happen tonight,” the coach said. "But we saw some things that need working on, too.!"

After meeting Halls in jamboree action Aug. 15 at Dyersburg High School, the Choctaws open up the regular-season slate Aug. 29 in Jackson against Liberty.