Tigers set for week one battle with St. Charles

After months of embracing the summer grind, week one is finally here.

For the Cape Central Tigers week one marks the first opportunity for the program to continue building off the success they had in 2022.

“I think we’re ready to go as mostly everybody probably is,” Tigers coach Kent Gibbs said. “You go all summer long hitting each other and doing the things you do in practice and so it can get to feel a little long. Our kids will be ready to go.”

The Tigers will open the season at 8 p.m. on Friday, August 25. when they host St. Charles. Kickoff was pushed back an hour due to the heat.

Gibbs said the Tigers will need to be sure to manage their adrenaline early, but he’s more concerned with how they will handle the heat.

“I think we’ll be alright (managing our adrenaline),” Gibbs said. “I’m more concerned with the heat and the fact we haven’t been able to get outside. So you’re just not sure how the body is going to react in that regard. From an emotional standpoint, I’m sure we’ll be excited to play but I don’t think it will be so much that it will affect our play.”

As the area deals with high temperatures and heat indexes, Gibbs and his staff have been on their players about proper preparation.

“The big thing for us is hydrate up and eat,” Gibbs said. “A lot of kids don’t understand the value of food in their system. You just have to take care of yourself especially when your body is going to be stressed in the heat. We’ve been telling them that and hopefully they’ve been listening and been doing so.”

During the summer practice schedule, nearly every team will deal with players being banged up at some point.

For Gibbs and the Tigers, they are getting healthy at the right time.

“For the first time maybe all summer we are healthy,” Gibbs said. “We are pretty much going to have everybody that we’ve been counting on.”

Zai’Aire Thomas was one of the players banged up early in the summer, but the standout running back is geared up for week one.

“He’s ready to go,” Gibbs said. “We have had several guys that were banged up throughout the summer but Zai’Aire’s ready to go and the rest of them that have been out there on the fringe are doing what they have to do to rehab. It appears like it’s all coming together.”

Last season the Tigers opened the season on the road at St. Charles where they won handily by a score of 54-12.

“I don’t think last year is going to have any relevance to this year,” Gibbs said. “It’s the first game and that’s the only mindset we have to have. Knowing that we have to go out and play and that’s what I hope our kids are doing. We’ve done a good job this summer of taking it one play at a time.”

Perhaps the biggest advantage for Cape Central is the way its schedule begins. The Tigers will open with three straight home games against St. Charles, Hillsboro and Poplar Bluff.

“The big thing is you have to get better,” Gibbs said. “whether you’re playing on the road or playing at home, you have to get better every week. No doubt, the first three weeks being at home should be an advantage for us and I hope we can take advantage of it.”