Coming off of a season deemed generally successful at 8-2, the Trenton Bulldogs began practice for the 2023 football campaign on a cool and overcast Monday morning, knowing that last year’s team left some “meat on the bone” as it pertains to the program’s ultimate goals.
Of note, both of the losses sustained by the Bulldogs last year were stinging defeats at C.F. Russell Stadium, with eventual GRC champion Gallatin humbling Trenton with a late-season 46-6 win in a battle of unbeaten foes. After finishing second in the GRC with an 8-1 regular season record, Trenton earned a coveted home game in district quarterfinal play, only to have a young Lawson squad end the Bulldogs season in a low-scoring contest.
Numbers in the program heading into the fall look slightly improved, as a final number of student-athletes “in the low 40s” anticipated in the Bulldog program. The transition from practice to competitive games will happen quickly for THS, with a four-school jamboree at Carrollton High School on Friday, August 18th, followed by the season opener against future GRC rival Brookfield at C.F. Russell Stadium on Friday, August 25th.
Following Monday morning’s practice, Sports Director Tom Johnson caught up with THS head football coach Kevin Hixson:
Trenton will have non-conference games against Lathrop (road) and KC Kipp Legacy (home), with six games to decide the final standings in the Grand River Conference, with tests against Gallatin, South Harrison, Polo, Putnam County, Milan, and Maysville. Brookfield and Marceline join the GRC next summer, creating a nine-school league by 2024.
