The DeKalb Middle School Saints had not one, but two games last week, making up for the season’s first scheduled match, which was cancelled due to weather.
Their first scheduled match-up was in Hartsville on Sept. 3, against the Jim Satterfield Yellow Jackets. There, the Saints went against the older and much larger Yellow Jacket players, but held their own. It was costly mistakes by DeKalb that would prove devastating.
Despite the size difference, the Saints found themselves down only 14-0 at the end of the first half. It was the second half that the Saints’ costly mistakes doomed the game. DeKalb would open the second half with three consecutive turnovers, all mistakes that the Yellow Jackets would take advantage of.
Facing a 36-0 shut out, the Saints would manage to put points on the board. Isaac Hall would get a 40-yard run in the fourth quarter for a touchdown. The game would end with the final score, 36-6 Satterfield.
The Saints came away with five first downs in the game, and were held to only 71 yards compared to the Yellow Jackets 337 yards.
The following Thursday the Saints traveled to Carthage to take on the Smith County Owls in what was originally supposed to be the Saints’ first game of the season. While the team avoided the shutout from the Yellow Jackets earlier in the week, they would not be so lucky against the Owls.
It seemed a replay of the Tuesday game with the Saints holding their own in the first half, only to watch the game run away in the second.
DeKalb forced a fumble on the Smith County’s first possession, but would have to punt on their own possession.
From there, the Owls would be running downhill, with the score getting out of hand quickly. The first touchdown would come with 29 seconds left in the first quarter. A two-point conversion gave the owls an 8-0 lead.
The Owls would strike again with only 59 seconds in the second half, but a failed PAT gave Smith County a 14-0 lead.
A third TD would come with 4:58 in the third quarter, and another failed PAT left the owls with a 20-0 lead.
An interception on the Saints’ next possession would give the ball back to the Owls, but the Saints D would stiffen and with a fourth and four at the Saints’ three-yard line DeKalb would stand up and get the ball back on downs.
The Saints would not be able to move the ball and would be forced to punt from their own end zone. The next play, the Owls would pass it in for a TD.
It would get no better, and with only 2:14 left in the game, and facing a fourth and goal from the five-yard line, the Owls would take it in for their final score. The Owls would win, 34-0, with the Saints falling to 0-4 on the season. The Saints came away with only 27 total yards of offense compared to the Owls’ 297 yards.
"We’ve got a lot of young kids, making mistakes but trying and giving it their all," Saints Coach Tadd Webb told the Review. "We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but there’s no excuses. Young or old, we’re not out there executing and doing what we’re supposed to be doing."
When asked about the size mismatches seen by the Saints over the past week, Coach Webb said consistent play would overcome that obstacle. "Anytime in football, if you have some big kids there will be some mismatches that creates some problems, but the thing we have to understand is that we have to fight every single play. We’ve got to be consistent and we’ve not been."
The Saints’ next game will be on Thursday in Woodbury against Cannon County.