Tipp dominates Anna in final tune-up

Things are about to get real for the Tippecanoe football team. 

As the Red Devils walked off the field last Friday night following their final preseason scrimmage, all the attention is now turned to the season opener on Friday night at Bellbrook, a 7 p.m. kickoff.

To prepare for that game, Tipp hosted Anna in an exhibition game at the Tipp Stadium. Behind a solid effort, the Red Devils earned a 34-0 victory as the two starting squads played into the third quarter before turning things over to the younger players. “It was a good way to end it, they are a good football program,” Tipp coach Matt Burgbacher said. “Like I told the boys, I will never be happy unless we score on every play, which is never going to happen. I always think we can always get so much better.” “I thought our defense played great tonight. We put pressure on the quarterback and forced them to do things they didn’t want to do. We still have so much more we can work on. This week's game one is no cakewalk.”

Tipp continues to improve as the three week preseason is now complete. The preparation begins for the season opener, and the new faces are starting to develop nicely as they look to provide a lot of quality contributions this season. “Every year you start over. This team is starting to establish their identity,” Burgbacher said. “You never really know until week one when those lights come on and it counts, that’s when you start seeing some things.” “I do love the direction this team is going, but we can get better at so much more. We can get better at practice. We don’t practice very well.”

“We are pretty good right now, but we can be so much better.” Burgbacher looked back to the Red/White scrimmage two weeks ago and has seen a lot change during those 14 days to get ready for the season, including a scrimmage at Beavercreek with Alter and Little Miami.

“I loved how our kids competed (at Beavercreek four-team scrimmage),” he said. “Were we perfect? No. But they competed hard. Then tonight, we took a huge step from last week.” One thing Burgbacher does is trust his defense, which is consistent every year. Even this year, going for it on fourth down at the 45 is something fans may see a few times this year. “We are going to make some decisions this year that will put our defense in a bind,” he said. “But I wouldn’t make those decisions if I didn’t have the confidence in them.” Tipp now focuses on Bellbrook as school started on Monday, and the team can get into their regular season routine. It will be the same things Tipp has seen in the last few years on Friday night.

“They are that true Wing-T,” Burgbacher said. “He has that system in there and it is rolling. They are a run-heavy team with nine starters back on offense.”