The DeKalb County Tigers brought out the anti-aircraft guns Friday night, shooting the Cumberland County Jets out of the sky with a 43-28 win in Crossville.
After winning the toss and taking the ball on the Jets 45 yard line, after a 45-yard drive, the Tigers drew first blood with 9:23 on the clock in the first quarter, scoring on a one-yard Tyler Bundy run. A rare missed EP by Matthew Poss, his first this season, left the score at 6-0. Cumberland went ahead with 5:25 left in the first period with a 17-yard Michael Miller touchdown, however. Mason Hall put the extra point up and Cumberland County gained a 7-6 advantage.
The Tigers took the lead back on 37-yard keeper by Quarterback Steven Jennings with 4:10 left in the First. A failed two-point conversion put the score at 12-7 Tigers.
A 43-yard drive culminated in a Jennings to Bradley Miller 13-yard touchdown pass with 23 seconds left in the first. Matthew Poss added a good extra point kick, and the Tigers went ahead 19-7.
After a 64-yard drive, DeKalb County added seven more points on an 11-yard screen pass from Jennings to Drew Castorena and a good Poss EP with 9:12 left in the first half put the Tigers ahead 26-7.
Tyler Bundy then recovered a Jets’ fumble to get the ball back for DeKalb. Jennings soon hit Omar Aldino with a 12-yard touchdown pass. Another good EP by Poss put the Tiger lead at 33-7.
The Tigers got another one in before halftime when Nick May recovered a fumble on the Tiger 30, and a good 23-yard field goal from Poss with 1:43 left in the half increased the Tiger advantage to 36-7 when the buzzer sounded at the end of the second.
DeKalb did not fare as well in the second half, and mistakes and substitutions allowed the Jets to score three times in the last two quarters.
After a Matthew Poss fumble, the Jets scored on a 41-yard dash by Dylan Wyatt with 3:07 left in the third. A good Mason Hall EP put the score at 36-14 DeKalb.
Poss made up for the drop on the kick-off, blistering the ground with a 95-yard touchdown run. He then put a foot to a good EP kick, and the Tigers went up 43-14.
Dylan Wyatt put another touchdown across for Cumberland on a 56-yard run with 1:52 left in the third. Hall hit the EP, bringing the Jets deficit to 43-21.
Cumberland managed one more touchdown on a four-yard run by Jake Kerley with 8:45 left in the final period. Hall again hit the EP, but the Tiger lead was insurmountable, and DeKalb won the contest 43-28.
Tiger Coach Steve Trapp said that he may have substituted a bit prematurely in the third quarter.
“A Tale of Two Halves; that’s my fault. We probably subbed a little bit too early on defense in the third quarter” Trapp told the Review. “We pretty much got our entire first defense off the field, and did it a little too quickly.”
Trapp said he was pleased with Riley Sexton’s defensive work.
“Riley Sexton has done really well in the secondary,” the coach said. “I think that’s his fifth interception for the year. We had some big plays on offense. Steven passed well, and we were catching the ball. We had some big defensive plays and turnovers in the first half.”
Trapp said that despite three wins so far, he feels that the tigers have much more potential.
“We’ll never apologize for a victory, but we’re still waiting for our guys to put in a full week and a full four quarters together,” the coach said.
The Jets fall to 3-0 on the season with the loss, while the Tigers, now 3-1, will travel to Carthage to face district-rival Smith County Owls this Friday night, with kickoff at 7 p.m.
DeKalb will visit Macon County on Sept. 23, then will return home to host Sequatchie County on Sept. 30 for homecoming. The tigers will travel to Grundy County on Oct. 7, will play at home against the Upperman Bees on Oct. 21, and will travel to Cannon County on Oct. 28 to wrap up
