West loves challenge of opening season vs. East

While some have argued the game should remain in the middle portion of the schedule as it had been for a number of years before last season, and others have clamored for the game to return to the end of the season like it was in the early days of the rivalry, the players for West enjoyed the chance to open the season against their biggest rival last year. And according to most players on this year’s team, they’re excited to do so again this campaign.

“It’s fun to go against the guys you’ve grown up playing against in football and other sports, and it’s fun to open up in front of the whole town,” West senior linebacker Matte Salansky said. “We expect to go into that game every year and win, but that’s the expectations we have for any game here. But winning that City Championship is so much sweeter, and being a senior, I want to win this one.

“This game is always fun. We have been working when no one is watching, and now is the time to see all that hard work pay off. It makes it all worth it.”

Zack Young, who enters the season as the Trojans starting quarterback, said opening the season against East makes you look forward to the rest of the season after playing in a boisterous atmosphere in the opening game.

“It’s a serious game, like every other game, but it’s a fun atmosphere,” Young said. “With it being the first game, it brings a lot more people out, and it’s a great way to get our guys going at the beginning of the season. It makes you look forward to playing the rest of the season.”

Young came on in relief of injured QB John Foreback a season ago and led three touchdown drives late in a 42-20 victory over East, and he started for more than half the season before Foreback returned to the starting role late in the year. Although Young has significant playing time as the team’s signal caller, this will be his first start against the ‘Canes as the quarterback, but he is taking that opportunity in stride.

“I imagine it will be just like every other game that I finished off or started last season,” Young said. “It’s not necessarily that we are playing against East. It’s just another football game against high school kids who just happen to live on the other side of our town. Some people see it as a really, really big rivalry, which it is, but it really is just another football game. I’m going to treat it that way and go out and attack it with my boys.

“Some people go into this game with a lot of pressure, and there is a lot of history behind this game. But after that game, we have another big game with a lot of history behind it as well. We will go into every game with the same mindset. After the first game, there is another, and another and another. That’s our mindset.”

Salansky said getting East in the opener is fun, but you can’t put everything you have into just one game. Following the City Championship, the Trojans play defending Class 4A state champion Greeneville before going through the Region 1-6A gauntlet.

“It’s fun to open the season like this and kind of get this game out of the way,” Salansky said. “Once it’s over, we can concentrate on our conference games and making the playoffs. We never look past an opponent, especially the opening opponent and playing against East. I know we will probably be looked past on some of our opponent’s schedules after the record we had last year, but I know we can compete with anybody.

“You can pull up the film from last year, and a big play here or there and we are right in the game. We were right there with those 6A schools that get all the hype all the time.”

The Trojans have won four straight against the ‘Canes, and Young wants to make sure it is a clean sweep for West while he’s in a Trojan uniform.

“It will feel really good,” Young said of getting his hands on the City Championship Trophy again this season. “It’s my senior year, and leaving that game and leaving that field with the trophy is a big focus. Our main focus is making sure we play our best and play our hardest, have fun and stand in the middle of that field after the game with that trophy.”

Tickets to the 10th annual Citizen Tribune Kickoff Classic will go on sale at Morristown East High School in the main office on Tuesday, Aug. 7. The price is $7 per ticket, but all season ticket holders for both East and West will be able to get into the game with their season pass. West’s football season tickets will go on sale Monday, Aug. 13, at the school. The cost is $35 per person.

There are also a limited amount of tickets on sale through the Citizen Tribune website, and also 20 tickets will be given away to listeners of WCRK (105.7 FM, 1150 AM) and WMTN (93.3 FM, 1300 AM).

For more information on the Kickoff Classic and to read previous stories leading up to the game, visit www.citizentribune.com/sports/kickoff-classic.