“It was a night that will live on in the history of this program, and this school for quite a while,” said DeKalb Middle School Head Football Coach Justin Poteete. “Coaching, in the moment, during that game, I didn’t realize the impact that 4 overtimes would have, but when I went back and watched it later that night, I can’t tell you how many times tears came into my eyes.”

In many ways, when the Saints played the Avery Trace Red Raiders in the Upper Cumberland Conference championship game last Thursday night in Cookeville, it was one of the most appropriate middle school games played in recent history.  Both teams entered the contest undefeated.  Avery Trace boasted the title of Eastern Division Champions, while DeKalb was Western Conference Champions.  Both teams had dominated regular season and postseason play to that point, with neither squad ever finding themselves trailing in a 2024 game.  Avery Trace entered the contest with the most feared passing attack in the conference; DeKalb with possibly the most feared running attack.   Avery Trace presented a very athletic, speedy and large defensive unit, while DeKalb possessed a hard hitting, fundamentally sound defense.  The game itself was so evenly matched that it took 4 overtimes to decide the final outcome.  And in all of this, the contest was played in the midst of the remnants of an actual hurricane. 

But after all of that, when the final whistle blew, DeKalb found itself as 2024 Upper Cumberland Conference champions by a final score of 26-18, a feat not accomplished by Middle since 2018.

DeKalb would kickoff to begin the game with kicker Bryson Redmon kicking the ball to the DeKalb 42 yard-line.  From there, Avery Trace would show off the Red Raider offense that had run wild through the conference all season as on the 5th play from scrimmage Avery Trace’s Xavier Windle would hook up with Colt Reese on a 41-yard strike for the game’s first score.  The two-point conversion would fail, but with just 1:42 gone in the first quarter, the Saints would find themselves in unfamiliar territory, trailing 6-0.

The Saints would put together an impressive 6-play, 60-yard drive of their own but disaster would strike as running back, Gavin Frazier would fumble at the 9-yard line, negating a momentum building, potential go ahead scoring drive and turning the ball back over to the Red Raider offense. 

Avery Trace looked to be taking control of the game early, as the Red Raider offense went on a 12-play 82-yard drive but, as they would time and time again during the contest, the Saints defense stiffened inside the 10 yard-line, holding Avery Trace out of the end-zone and giving quarterback, Collin Donnell and the Saints offense an opportunity to redeem themselves.

Redeem themselves they did. 

Backed by runs of 8, 11, 18 and 2 from Donnell, and a run of 21 from Frazier, DeKalb would march all the way to the Avery Trace 8-yard line.  Donnell would miss on a pass but would find Frazier on an 8-yard scoring strike that saw Frazier out muscle the Red Raider Defense as he drove into the endzone.  The two-point conversion would fail but with 0:36 left in the half, DeKalb had tied the game up, 6-6.  

DeKalb would get the ball to start the second half and began marching downfield again but a Donnell pass to Levi Cripps would be picked off by Red Raider defensive back Parker Witt at the Red Raider 34-yard line.  “It was a good play call, we just didn’t execute it perfectly, and they made a great play,” said Poteete.

Avery Trace would take advantage of the DeKalb mishap.  Windle would put together a 66-yard, 11-play drive, capped off by a 13-yard scamper by Davin Morton to put the Red Raiders up by 6 with 3:05 left in the third quarter.  The Red Raiders would see a successful two-point conversion attempt get called back on a holding penalty and would be unable to convert on their second attempt, keeping the Red Raider lead at 12-6.

DeKalb would again answer as Donnell would put together a 53-yard drive of his own after the ensuing kick.  Backed by runs of 5, 27, and 2 by Donnell and a 9-yard run by Frazier, DeKalb would go into ‘Beast Mode’ on the 4 yard-line, giving the ball to Reed Midgett who would go in untouched to tie the game up.  Again, DeKalb’s PAT attempt would fail but with 7:55 left in the game, the score was 12-12.

DeKalb’s defense would again ‘bend but not break’ as Avery Trace would get the ball at the DeKalb 44-yard line and march down to the DeKalb 9-yard line in three plays, where the Red Raiders would have it first-and-goal from there.  But again, the DeKalb defense would stiffen, holding Avery Trace out of the endzone and turning the ball over on downs at the DeKalb 5 yard-line. 

For the first time all night, the Saints couldn’t move the ball and were forced to punt back to Avery Trace on fourth down, giving the Red Raiders the ball back at the DeKalb 31-yard line. 

Avery Trace would drive down to the 15-yard line but were again turned away after 5 total plays and 3 incomplete passes with the rain increasing in strength.  DeKalb would get the ball back at their own 15-yard line and would run the time out in regulation, with the game still tied at 12.

Then the drama would begin.

Overtime periods for middle school games are such that each team gets the ball at the 10-yard line, with effectively 4 plays to score before the opposing team has an offensive series. If a team scores on their first drive, and the opposing team does not, or if the team doesn’t score on its first drive and the opposing team does, the game is over.  This process is repeated, with teams swapping who gets the ball first, until a winner prevails.

Midgett would win the toss for DeKalb in overtime play and the Saints would go on defense to begin. Avery Trace would manage only 2 yards of offense before turning the ball over on downs to DeKalb in four plays, setting DeKalb up for a game winning series.

Donnell would rush for 2 yards on first down and Midgett would rush for 5 on second to put the ball at the Avery Trace 3-yard line.  However, Midgett would get tackled for a 3-yard loss on third down and Donnell would be unable to connect with Frazier on fourth, forcing a second overtime.

DeKalb would get the ball first in the second overtime and would need only 1 play for Donnell to dance in for the go-ahead score.  Again, DeKalb was foiled on its two-point conversion attempt and Avery Trace would find itself down, for the first time this season, 18-12.

Avery Trace would answer however, needing only two plays for Reese to scamper in from 5 yards out to tie the game.  Reese would bobble the snap on the two-point conversion and the game remained tied, 12-12.

Avery Trace would get the ball first in the third overtime, but the DeKalb defense would hold, aided by a 10-yard holding penalty on the Red Raiders, and again DeKalb had the opportunity to win it with a score of their own.

Donnell would march the ball to the 2-yard line in two plays before a false start set the ball back to the 7.  Donnell would get the ball down to the 1 on the next play, and Midgett would power in for what looked like the winning score.  However, as was the case many times in the contest, a yellow flag appeared on the field this time for an illegal shift, and Donnell’s next pass to Frazier would fall incomplete on fourth down.

However, as they had in the second overtime, it would take only one run for DeKalb to take the lead in the fourth overtime, as Frazier would scamper in from 10 yards out.  This time, Donnell wouldn’t be denied on the two-point try and he would power in to give the Saints a 26-18 lead.

Avery Trace looked like it would answer, picking up 7 yards on first down, but eighth grader, William Soto would sack Reese for a loss of 11 yards in what might have been the biggest play all season for the Saints.  Two incomplete passes later, the Saints, and approximately 200 of the Blue and White faithful, stormed the field, as the 2024 Champions of the Upper Cumberland Football Conference, in what might have been the most exciting football game in DeKalb Middle School history.

With the victory, the Saints knocked off the 2023 champions, Avery Trace, by handing them their first loss of the season.  The Saints finished the 2024 campaign with an unblemished 10-0 record that saw them outscore their opponents by a total of 304-52 and giving DeKalb Middle School its first football title since 2018.