YORKTOWN, VA (WTKR)- John Byron spent 12 years helping Lafayette win football games as an assistant coach. Now he'll try to lead his team past the Rams.
Byron is in his first season as the head coach at Tabb as the Tigers square off with Lafayette on Friday night in a key Bay Rivers District showdown, Byron's first game against his former squad.
"It's a little bit nostalgic for sure," Byron said. "I've been, not only with those coaches for a long time, but a lot of these players that are going to be playing in this game are guys that I coached."
The head Tiger expects any emotions to disappear once the ball kicks off and all of his attention is focused on getting his team a key victory. Not since 2009 has Tabb taken down Lafayette and even though the goal is to treat this one like any other match-up, it's an exciting opportunity for Byron to face the Rams.
"I got a chance to really learn a lot from being a part of that program," he noted. "We've tried to bring some of that here and we've been able to do some of that, but that stuff takes time and we're trying to build that here."
"It's personal for him, it's personal for us, we take it very personal now," senior wide receiver and cornerback Lance Koontz added. "He said this one matters to him so we're going to play extra hard just to get it for him."
Byron and his staff have injected a new energy into the Tigers. They're out to a 5-1 start, their best opening since the 2008 season. Tabb's lone loss came at the hands of Poquoson, a 25-21 heart-breaker that the team feels it let slip away. Now it will face a Lafayette team that is 4-2 and lost a thriller against Warhill last week.
"At the beginning of the year had you said we're 5-1 at this point, certainly I would've been excited about that," the head coach said. "All things considered, I think we're pretty excited about the position that we're in right now."
"We're more together this year than ever," noted Koontz. "New plays, new everything, energy is high."
Friday's match-up is shaping up to be the Tigers' toughest test this season to date. A hungry Lafayette squad awaits that is ready to get back in the win column as both squads look for what would be a key win come playoff time.
"Personally, I've never beaten Lafayette," Koontz pointed out. "It would be pretty cool to just beat them once."
"I think the biggest thing it does for us is it helps us out tremendously in playoff points," added Byron. "If we can win this one Friday night and have the opportunity to possibly play that first playoff game at home, that would be tremendous in terms of where this program was and where we're trying to take it."
Tabb and Lafayette kick off at 7:00 PM at Wanner Stadium in Williamburg on Friday night.
