Posted: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 12:00 pm

By KEVIN WEAKS
Press Sports
Don Coady wanted a good dress rehearsal. Keith Hodge needed to see if his cast knew their lines.
Ready or not, the curtain is about to rise on the 2012 football season for both Westview and Dresden.
The two respective head coaches put their teams through the final preseason paces Friday night at the Pepsi Mid-America Challenge jamboree in Paris.
Westview topped Lexington 14-7, and then Dresden saw Trenton score a touchdown and two-point conversion in the final seconds for a 15-14 win
Eight high school teams and two junior highs — Dresden and Paris Inman tied at 14-all in the opener — played a total of five two-quarter sessions in the second annual event at Henry County High School.
“It’s fun to get out and play on a real field, under the lights and against another team,” Coady said. “It’s not totally a game-like situation, but it’s a lot closer than practicing on the practice field.”
Westview and Dresden will kick off against each other Thursday night at UT Martin.
WV 14, Lexington 7
Charger quarterbacks Ryne Vinson and Matt Castleman continued their near-even battle for the starting position by taking snaps in the first quarter, completing 7-of-9 passes for 51 yards and a score.
Vinson hit on 5-of-6 for 33 yards and finished a 16-play, 61-yard scoring drive with a one-yard loft to Javier Gordon.
“Javier still makes technical mistakes, but he has the athleticism to make plays,” Coady said. “He just has to learn the game.”
Gordon caught five passes for 37 yards, four of those completions thrown by Vinson.
“They’ve both been pretty even in practice,” Coady said of his two QBs. “So, I decided to give them both some reps.
Coady then let some of his younger players take over in the second half, which ended with each team scoring once.
Lexington tied the game less than three minutes into the second frame, but Westview secured the win with an all-rushing 12-play drive that covered 63 yards.
Adrian Bonilla and Ladrell Starnes and led the way for the Chargers in the second quarter, Bonilla with 26 yards on six carries and Starnes adding 21 yards on four tries.
Winning a scrimmage was secondary for Coady, who stayed with his reserves throughout the second frame.
“I wanted to see our kids play hard, be physical and make some plays,” he said. “Those were the only goals I had, and I thought we accomplished that.”
Trenton 15, Dresden 14
The Lions hit a big play early, but Peabody hit bigger plays late.
Quarterback Najawon Miller hit Malik Doaks for 31 yards to set up Miller for a one-yard TD run followed by a two-point conversion with 0:00.1 for Trenton’s win.
“I thought we came out and hit them in the mouth early on, but then it seemed like we just slowed down some,” said Hodge, in his first year as the Lions’ head man. “You can’t come out like that, come out and drive them off the ball and then die down a little on the next series. You have to keep pounding and grinding. That’s how you wear teams down.”
Dresden’s double-wing from a shotgun formation worked to perfection early as Joey Caldwell broke free up the middle for 60 yards and a score on the game’s third play.
The new-look Lions’ offense then had its ups and downs, picking up just two first downs while seeing quarterback Davis Moran sacked twice.
“It’s a big work in progress,” Hodge said of the offense. “We have to get better up front at driving people off the ball, like we did early on. What our kids have to understand is that defenses get better as the game goes along because they start figuring out what you’re doing.”
Ty Fields’ 15-yard TD run with 5:58 to play in the second half seemed to energize the Lions, who immediately followed with an eight-play, 70-yard march that included a 41-yard run on a direct snap to Devan Raymer.
Caldwell scored from a yard out with 1:37 for what appeared to be a safe 14-7 lead.
“Overall, I was pleased with the way we played,” Hodge said. “I thought we fought all the way to the end. I liked the fire in our kids’ eyes. They’re getting hungrier each day to perform.”
Dresden threw only twice, while two Trenton QBs combined to go 4-for-10 for 72 yards. Published in The WCP 8.14.12