Lions will try to regain winning ways Friday

Wade Love (3) threw for one touchdown and he was on the receiving end of a Reese Smith TD pass in the Lions battle with Smith County Friday night. (Photo by Ronny Burks)

There are only two teams on Cannon County's regular-season schedule this year who have yet to be beaten.

Friday night's opponent, the Whitwell Tigers, are one of them. The other one is Upperman, who the Lions lost to 49-0. Both are 8-0 heading into Week 9 of the football season.

Last year the Cannon County and Whitwell worked out a deal that would rent out the stadium at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. The deal gave the Cannon County team an opportunity of a lifetime to play inside a college football stadium.

However, the game was placed on Thursday night and as a result of the next day not only being a school day, but also a work day for most people, few fans on both sides of the field showed up making it a bust when considering the gate money collected and the overhead spent on renting the stadium. It also ended up being the worst defeat Cannon would suffer in a 62-0 shutout.

So now the game has been shifted to a home game for Whitwell which is a smaller distance to have to travel.

The Lions need to get back the momentum they lost last Friday in a 34-29 setback against Smith County. Tyler Bundy will have to rebound as the Owls defense locked the Lions' leading rusher down to only 16 yards on 13 carries. Bundy is close to breaking 1,000 yards on the season and a strong message can be sent to York if he can collect 74 yards plus against a solid Whitwell defense.

Whitwell may be the best team the Lions will face all season. The 1-A power averages 40 plus points a game and has only given up more than two touchdowns just once as Polk County scored 25 against them. Whitwell made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the playoffs where they lost to South Pittsburg who is also in their region. The Tigers got their revenge last Friday with a 34-12 win.

The Lions passing game has had to step up and they may have to go to it again and mix it up for the final two games as opposing defenses have started to figure out the Lions Wing-T offense and have been able to adjust accordingly.

Whitwell is on Central Time Zone. Kickoff is at 7:00.