After two home losses to non-district teams to open their season, the DeKalb County High School Tigers football team had high hopes as they traveled to Livingston for their first district game of the year. Once again the Tigers played a tough, hard-hitting game in the first half, only to let the game get away from them in the second.
It was a battle throughout the first quarter with each team going back and forth down the field, but neither was able to put points on the board. With a couple of big runs by running back Luke Boss, the Tigers began the game with a drive that took them down to the Wildcats’ 35 yard line. There, the drive stalled and a punt by Matthew Poss pinned Livingston back to their own one.
The Wildcats mounted a drive of their own, going 11 plays, all the way down to the DeKalb 15. There, aided by a couple of false start penalties by Livingston, the drive stalled, and facing a fourth and 15 from the DeKalb 20, the Wildcats elected to go for it. A pass into the end zone fell incomplete and the Tigers took over on downs.
A pair of runs by Boss, and a run by A.J. Mooneyham moved the Tigers 10 yards, but a run for a loss, a delay of game penalty, and a couple of incomplete passes forced DeKalb to punt once again.
Livingston’s next drive started at their own 45 and took the game into the second quarter. The Wildcats moved six plays to the Tigers’ 35, but with a delay of game penalty on fourth and two, the Wildcats decided to punt.
The Tigers began at their own 14-yard-line, and pushed hard with another drive. A run by Boss and a quarterback keep by Steven Jennings gave them a first down on the 24. A pass to Aaron Patterson gave the Tigers another first down at the 39. Then a couple of runs by Boss, and another by Mooneyham, got DeKalb to near midfield, but it was there the drive stalled.
It was then that the game got really sloppy on both sides. Poss punted, and a personal foul put the Wildcats to their own 11.Livingston kept the ball on the ground throughout their drive, and despite two holding penalties were able to move four plays to the DeKalb 33. The next play, the Tigers were hit with a facemask penalty during a keeper by Wildcat QB Kaleb Qualls, and the Wildcats were set up with a first and 10 on the DeKalb 18. A false start backed Livingston up five yards, but a run by the hard hitting Wildcat running back Dylan Linder got the five yards back. Linder was handed the ball on the next play, and he was in for the first points of the game. An extra point kick was blocked, but with 2:03 left in the half, Livingston was on top, 6-0.
The kickoff would give the Tigers’ next possession at their own 34, and it looked as if DeKalb would answer with a scoring drive of their own. Going 11 plays, including a 21-yard run by Boss and several QB runs by Jennings, the Tigers moved to the Wildcats’ 18. There, with only seconds left in the half, the drive stalled once again. On third and 12 from the Livingston 20, and with eight seconds on the clock, Poss was called in for a field goal attempt. The kick was down the middle, but fell short. The first half ended with the Wildcats’ leading, 6-0.
Livingston started the third quarter with the ball at their own 26, and wasted no time increasing their lead. The Wildcats went five plays, ending with Qualls calling his own number for a run into the end zone. An two-point conversion play was called back after a holding penalty, but the following extra point kick was good putting the Wildcats up, 13-0.
DeKalb’s next possession would be plagued by penalties and miscues. Their drive started at their own 22, and looked promising. With runs by Boss, and a run and pass to Mooneyham, the Tigers moved to the 49-yard-line. Then, a keeper by Jennings into Wildcat territory was called back to the DeKalb 40 by a holding penalty. Another keeper took the Tigers back to the 49, but a false start backed them up again. Then, on a third and 14 from their own 46, a fumbled handoff to Boss was recovered by Livingston.
The Wildcats cashed in quickly, going five plays with Qualls running in for another touchdown. With the extra point, Livingston was up 20-0 with 3:59 left in the third.
A penalty dug another hole for the Tigers on their next possession. Starting on their own 26, a second down pass to Patterson was called back for another holding flag. The Tigers pushed to the 33, but would be forced to punt.
Livingston took control at their 30, and once again made quick work for points. The Tigers held the Wildcats to a third and eight, then a pass to Wade Eldridge gave them a first down on the 44. Then a run by Linder set them up at the DeKalb 13. Next, the ball was handed to Jordan Savage who ran it in for six. With the extra point, Livingston’s lead increased to 27-0 with 36 seconds left in the third.
The Wildcats held the Tigers to a three-and-out on their next possession, with DeKalb losing yards on the drive. The resulting punt went out-of-bounds at the Livingston 44, and from there the snowball continued to roll. The Wildcats went six plays before being set up on the DeKalb one-foot line. Again it was Qualls who was in for six more. The extra point was no good, but Livingston came away with what would be the final score of the game, 33-0.
When asked about the tale of two halves Head Coach Steve Trapp said it’s all mental. "The first half, that’s how we wanted the football game to be," Trapp said. "I knew points would be at a premium. These guys, we’ve played them so many times, and I wanted to run the football more, and try to control the clock a little bit ourselves. That’s what we had in the first half, and at halftime we talked about staying sharp mentally. Then we came out with penalties and turnovers, and just didn’t show back up in the second half. This is what you get."
"It’s a mental thing," Trapp continued. "I love our kids, I believe in these kids, and we’re going to continue to push them, and continue to coach them. It is gut check time. At this point, every game matters. We’ve just got to step up and play."
The Tigers will be on the road again this Friday, facing White County. Game time is at 7 p.m.
