ARLINGTON, Tenn. (WREG) — ‘Let this not be your last,’ that has been the message this week for the Arlington Tigers.
Due to COVID-19, it’s been 36 days since the Tigers have taken the field. They’ll get to do it tonight against rival Collierville in the 6A playoffs.
“I’ve been playing football since I was about six years old and I do not want this game to be my last game,” said Arlington wide receiver and outside linebacker Jake Golday.
“Let’s keep going,” said Tigers quarterback Zach Baker. “We’ll go as far as we can.”
To do that the Tigers must get through the Dragons — the team they were scheduled to play before they went into quarantine to end the regular season.
“I am very happy to play Collierville, that’s the only team we have not played since that game got canceled,” Golday said. “So, I’m really looking forward to showing off our talent and last year we played them and we upset them in the pouring down rain and we know that they are going to come back for rivalry.”
By being off for over a month, head coach Adam Sykes said he won’t be surprised to see a little rust Friday night. But, he also knows his team is hungry to play.
“We’ve told them all year, they’re very fortunate to play any ball games,” said Sykes. “So, for us to make it as far as we did before we had to be quarantined and to now even be in the playoffs, they are still very blessed and lucky. We’ve had a chance to heal up a little bit with guys who didn’t have season-ending injuries. The atmosphere at practice has been pretty good, so hopefully that rolls into the game tomorrow night and we’ll see what happens.”
“It’s definitely tough,” Baker said. “Even a bye week, taking two weeks off is always tough, but taking as long as we have — we know that might make a few little mistakes, but as long as we can keep our composure, we can stay in it and we’ll be fine.”
Sykes said it’s going to have to be a team effort. Everyone, even the sidelines, will play a huge part if the Tigers are going to advance to the 6A quarterfinals.
