It was not a pretty game. In fact, it was probably the worst game the DeKalb County Tigers had played all season, but somehow, they overcame all the penalties, dropped passes, and turnovers to eek out a win over the Cumberland County Jets last Friday.
The Tigers traveled to the far-away land of Crossville last week in their final road game of the season. The Jets would get the ball first and the game would start off great for DeKalb. On a third and 10 play at the Cumberland 36, Jarett Hamilton intercepted a pass at the Jets’ 44.
A false start would back the Tigers up five right from the beginning, then Jordan Parker connected a pass to Jon Hendrix at the 32. The next play, Parker found Ryan Lyons in the endzone for a touchdown. Adrian Prater’s PAT was good and with 9:40 left in the first DeKalb was up 7-0.
Cumberland would start at its own 20 after the kickoff, and would gain ground with several first down plays. They would reach the DeKalb 39 before a false start backed them up five. A sack would push them back more, then an offsides penalty gave them a third and 11. After a keeper gained only two yards, the Jets would punt.
DeKalb would start at its own 28, where a Parker pass to Lyons bounced off his chest. A Cecil Ketchum run would be stuffed for no gain, then Lyons would drop yet another pass. The Tigers would punt.
This time the Jets would make them pay. The ball would roll dead at the Cumberland 36, where the Jets would mount a 64-yard drive. Running mainly on the legs of QB Grayson Dunlap and Bryson Wilson, the Jets moved down to the DeKalb 41. There, an offsides penalty gave them an extra five yards, then a pass to Wilson had the ball down to the eight. Jordan Propst would push his way to the six, then Dunlap called his own number and was in for the touchdown. The PAT was good, and with 51 seconds left in the first quarter, Cumberland had tied the game 7-7.
DeKalb would go three and out on its next possession after an intentional grounding call backed the Tigers up from the 49 to the 33, then a pass over the line of scrimmage resulted in another penalty. Parker would then take a sack and backed up to the 21, the Tigers would punt. After a bad snap on the punt, the ball would roll dead at the Cumberland 45.
The Jets would waste little time getting back on the board. A Wilson run was good to the 47, then a keeper was down at the 48. On third and seven, Propst was handed the ball, running it in for the 52-yard touchdown. With 10:26 left in the half, the Jets were on top 14-7.
The Tigers were just out of sync on their next drive and could not move the ball. Starting at their own 40, a high snap resulted in Ketchum losing one yard. Two more passes to Lyons were again dropped, and just like that the Tigers were forced to punt.
Cumberland looked to be driving once again. Starting from its own eight, keeps by Dunlap and carries by Wilson pushed the ball to the DeKalb 49. There, a hold backed them up 10, but an unsportsmanlike call on Lyons gave them a first down at the DeKalb 37. A Propst run, a keep, then a Wilson carry had the Jets facing a fourth and an inch at the 27. They would roll the dice and gain two yards. After a holding call backed them up to the 33, a pass was complete then fumbled with DeKalb recovering at the 24.
DeKalb would fail to take advantage. After pushing down to the Jets’ 29, a pass to Lyons was caught, then fumbled with Cumberland recovering at the four. With only 1:02 left in the half, the Jets would run the ball until the half ended.
There must have been a fire lighted underneath the Tigers during halftime, as they came out and scored on a four-play drive in the third. Ketchum returned the kick to the 35, where he would be handed the ball two more times, reaching the Jets’ 12. A Paker keep was down at the three, then Ketchum handled a bad snap to run it in for six. With the PAT, the score was tied 14-14 with 10:11 left in the third.
The Jets would start at their own 20 on the next drive, but a Dunlap pass would be intercepted by Hunter Buchanan at the 34. The possession would not amount to much, with a fumble ending in Ketchum falling on the ball at the 36, a dropped pass by Hendrix, then a holding call backing DeKalb up with a fourth and forever.
The Jets would get the ball at their own 21, but would go three and out before having to punt themselves.
The Tigers started again at their own 48, where it would be Ketchum again. A run up the middle was good to the Cumberland 46, then another to the 23. There, Parker kept the ball and ran it in for a touchdown. With the PAT and 1:12 left in the third, DeKalb was back on top 21-14.
The Jets started the next possession at their own 16 after a muffed return. From there the Jets mounted one last drive. On the legs of Wilson and Dunlap, they would reach the 20 where a fumble almost doomed the drive. Cumberland recovered and was back to the ground game. A keep was down at the 23, then a pass to Propst was good for a long run aided by a horse-collar call. Another keep was down at the six, then Propst carried up to the four. There, another keep was in for six. The PAT was good and with 8:18 left in the game, the score was 21-21.
The kick went out of bounds and DeKalb started at its own 39. Once more they would gain composure and mount one more scoring drive. A keep was good to the 43, then another to the Jets’ 49. A pass to Hendrix was down to the 14, then Parker got caught in the backfield at the 14. After an incomplete pass, another was down at the four. An offsides on the Jets gave the Tigers half the distance, then Parker ran it in himself with 4:20 left to play. The PAT was good and the Tigers were back on top, 28-21.
The Jets had one last chance but would not be able to come up with points. Starting at their own 22, they would push down to the DeKalb 17, where on fourth and eight a pass would fall incomplete. DeKalb took over with 49 seconds left on the clock, and would hold on for the 28-21 victory.
The Tigers have a bye week this Friday, but will return October 25 for a home game against White County. The Tigers improve to 6-2 on the season and are now 2-2 in region play.
