Week 4 Team of the Week: Haywood Tomcats
BROWNSVILLE, Tenn. — The Haywood Tomcats received the Week 4 Team of the Week award following their performance against Lexington.
In what was described as a hard fought, physical contest in Big Red Country, Haywood stood tall on the defensive side of the football, shutting out the Tigers on the road by a final of 16-0.
During practice Wednesday afternoon in Brownsville, members of the Tomcats were able to break down the keys to yet another successful performance in 2021.
“This year we wanted to stop them, we stopped them in the semis so we wanted to stop them again,” said Haywood cornerback Jaylen Lewis. “Our D-line came with the tempo, so once the D-line started getting tackles in the backfield, the secondary just started clicking.”
“The running game was everything for us coming into that game,” said Haywood running back Jakylon Taylor. “Then we had our receivers make plays, made big plays actually. Then everything started with the O-line. When the O-line starts clicking, everything else clicks. You can’t do nothing without the O-line.”
“Our guys really swarmed the football, created some turnovers, and gave us a lot of possessions on offense,” said Haywood head coach Chris Smith. “But it was a really old school kind of football game, a lot of contact, a lot of physicality, and we’re just fortunate we showed a lot of guts and were able to pull through on the road. It’s a tough place to play over there at Lexington.”
Now 3-0 to start the year, Haywood will look to perfect the small details of the game and build off their early momentum as they get ready to host Milan this Friday night in a Region 7 4A showdown.
