plays to win and it rubs off on his teammates. He has a great reputation as a runner, but is overlooked as a passer. He is as good of a thrower and has as good accuracy as any player I have had in my 21 years of coaching,” says Coach Smith. Smith adds,“ This year I just want him to be himself. I just want Taylor to be the leader he has always been.” Dupree is 6’ 2, 200 and Curry says the potential of this phenomenal athlete is unlimited.“ He has great athletic ability. He is an athlete in every facet. All of the great quarterbacks I have had at Centre could both run and throw. When you have a QB that can run it is hard to account for on defense. Tyren has that. He could be an All-State player. He just needs to be that leader and guy that wins football games,” states Coach Curry.
Talking with both players together it is easy to see that, despite the intensity of the rivalry, there is great mutual respect and admiration for each other. Tyren says about Hayes,“ Taylor is a beast. He is really good and a great allaround player.” Taylor says about Dupree,“ Tyren is a crazy good athlete. He has a calm demeanor during games. He has a cannon arm and great legs when running the ball.”
How would the players describe themselves? Dupree states,“ I am very competitive. I don’ t want to lose. I just try to provide leadership. I think me not wanting to lose makes me a better athlete.” Asked the same question Hayes answered,“ I will do anything to win the game. I am pretty good at being a leader and getting guys to rally behind me.”
We know what history and the coaches have to say about the Cherokee County-Piedmont game. So what do the players think? Dupree explains,“ Centre has played Piedmont my whole life. It is always a big game. My uncle and cousins always say that if you are going to beat anybody you better beat Piedmont. It is the biggest game on the schedule.” Hayes answered,“ It’ s big. All the men around town tell stories about this game. They are usually first on the schedule, so we spend the summer counting down to it.”
This season both teams will have a common“ enemy” as the two schools come together to fight for state pride in the Border Battle. No doubt the traffic on State Highway Nine will be bumper-to-bumper as Warrior fans head to Piedmont to open the season with Rockmart. Likewise, the same scene will be played out in reverse the next Friday as the entire city of Piedmont heads north on Highway Nine for the next installment of a great Alabama high school football rivalry. These two talented teams-led by the two fine quarterbacks-may make this year’ s scrap for bragging rights out on“ Number 9” one for the ages. We would expect nothing less in the“ Battle of Highway Nine”.
Jon Holder
COVER STORY
36 | 2016 Pigskin Roundup the Magazine