Published: September 13, 2007 02:38 am      

Young and hungry

Underclassmen get ready for big challenge at Waco

Tremaigne “Fatty” Dickson doesn’t remember the home-opening loss to Waco last season.

He doesn’t recall how it felt to have his season end with a 24-point loss to a state finalist team.

The sophomore knows Waco is ranked No. 2, but while he and others respect the Lions, they aren’t afraid.

Besides, what Dickson and the other starting underclassmen don’t know, won’t hurt them Friday night.

For the third time in two seasons, the Tigers play Waco. For the first time in the three meetings the game will be played at Waco ISD Stadium, the Tigers are undefeated and young starters such as the sophomore outside linebacker Dickson will face the Lions.

Also, the Tigers defense is the best it’s been in the three meetings, holding opponents to an average of 94 rushing yards per game.

“Our defense is playing really well, I think that’s the key right now,” said Tigers coach Dave Henigan, whose defense is allowing opposing offenses to score 18.5 points per game.

Last season, the Tigers gave up an average of more than 200 yards rushing per game. They also started the season 0-2.

But that was before Fatty and the young-ins showed up.

Dickson stands at about 5-foot-9 and weighs 160 pounds, hardly plump. In fact, Fatty hasn’t been so for the past 12 years — which makes the nickname’s often use a little curious. Even Henigan stumbled a bit.

“We figured out early on that Cody (Evans) and Fatty are special — Fatty, sorry, Tremaigne —are special players,” Henigan said.

Teammates refer to Dickson as Fatty so much, it’s stuck like a half-gallon of Haagen-Dazs.

“I’ve known him since like kindergarten,” said Evans, who said Dickson has had the nickname “as long as I’ve known him.

“That’s what everybody calls him.”

When he was two years old, Dickson’s grandmother affectionately referred to the chubby-faced toddler as “Fatty.”

Dickson kept the nickname, but not the fat.

“I got little by like, when I was 7,” Dickson said. “ I was chubby, just chubby. Not real fat.”

Now, the kid with the funny nickname is wreaking havoc at linebacker. Dickson has 10 tackles and 11 assists along with one sack, which he got against Jacksonville on Sept. 7.

“He’s playing great defense,” said senior Wylum Bivins, who has 11 tackles. “He’s doing exactly what he’s supposed to do— make plays.”

Evans is the Tigers leading tackler with 17.

“Those guys have certainly played well early, especially for young kids,” Henigan said. “They wouldn’t be starting as sophomores if they weren’t confident.”

The Tigers are going to need all of their confidence against the No. 2-ranked team in the Associated Press poll.

The Lions return most of the same team which made it to the state championship game last year.

Last week against Ennis, Waco rushed for 402 yards. The trio of Jarred Salubi, Charles Silmon and Bronshae’Keon Dugas — who helped the Lions average more than 300 yards in two games against the Tigers — are back in 2007.

But the Tigers much-anticipated matchup with Waco is just another game, said Henigan. Just another game against a team that beat the Tigers twice last season, including a 41-17 loss in the bi-district playoffs.

Henigan was quick to down-play the prestige of this matchup.

“They’re a good football team. I don’t think this game’s been circled on our schedule at all,” Henigan said. “This is a non-district game that has no implication on our season. It’s a good gauge to see where we are and how we match up against a very good football team.”

That doesn’t mean his team doesn’t know what is at stake.

“They know they’re going against a good football team, they’re not stupid,” Henigan said. “They know Waco played LaMarque for the state championship last year and they know they lost to them twice — I don’t have to tell them that.”

Bivins said he wants “revenge” on the team that sent the Tigers home last year. For an upset on the road, the Tigers will need contributions from their younger players.

“We’re counting on them a lot,” Bivins said. “Waco’s got a big running game, we’re going to need to stop the run.”

Henigan is confident his revamped defense will be up to the task.

“I think they’ll be ready,” Henigan said. “They know what to expect.”

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Tony Marquis may be contacted via e-mail at tmarquis@corsicanadailysun.com.



Corsicana at Waco

7:30 p.m. Friday

At Waco ISD Stadium



RECORDS: Class 4A Waco is 2-0. Corsicana is 2-0.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Waco: RB Jarred Salubi, RB Charles Silmon, FB Bronshae’Keon Dugas, OL Nick Johnson, DE Josh Hicks, DB Peter Smith. Corsicana: OLB Tremaigne Dickson, CB Wylum Bivins, CB/KR C.J. Fowler, FB Tim Smith, OL Kyle Hand, Cody Evans, LB Matt Rhone, DL Andrew Blackwell, WR/S Gary Gibson.

FAST FACT: Waco is ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press poll. It is receiving four first-place votes. Corsicana is receiving six total votes to put them unofficially at No. 13 in the poll.

UPDATE: Waco is coming off a 38-20 win over Ennis in Week 1. In that game, the Lions had a 31-point lead going in the fourth quarter according to the Waco Tribune. Salubi rushed for 142 of Waco’s 402 rushing yards, with Dugas gaining 122 yards on 11 carries. The Lions had 61 passing yards, but threw only eight passes in the game ... Waco punted once against Ennis ... Against the Tigers in 2006, Waco won by an average margin of 24 points ... Omarius Hines caught six catches for 122 yards in the bi-district playoff game at Tiger Stadium, most of which came in the first half before the Lions double-covered Hines in the second ... The Tigers are averaging 37 points per game and in a Sept. 7 win over Jacksonville, Ethan Bryant threw for a career-high 284 yards ... Scotty Bryant rushed for 100 yards, his fourth career 100-yard game.



— Tony Marquis