The dream came to an end in Nolensville Friday night as the Tigers ran into a buzz saw, falling 42-6 in the quarterfinals of the state playoffs , marking the longest postseason gridiron run in school history.

With the loss, DeKalb County ends its 2019 campaign with an 8-5 mark with playoff wins over Tullahoma at home, 45-34 and an upset victory over perennial powerhouse Marshall County in Lewisburg last week on a last minute Axel Aldino heave, 28-24. They fall just short of a trip to east Tennessee to challenge Anderson County who knocked off multi-year state 4A champion Greeneville this past Friday. Nolensville will take their 11-2 record there this Friday in the state semi-finals with the winner to get a trip to Cookeville and the state championships. Nolensville advances with wins over Macon County and formerly undefeated Livingston Academy.

Things looked bad for the Tigers at the get-go as the Nolensville Knights gashed the Tiger line just five minutes into the game when running back Ryan Pistulka ran up the middle for a 70-yard touchdown run. His opening score came seconds after the Tigers failed to make the Knights pay for a fumble deep in their own territory on the first play of the game. The Tigers stalled at the Knight 28 and turned the ball over on downs. Two plays later the Knights were celebrating in the end zone.

The Knights didn’t let the Tigers catch their breath as they extended their lead to 14-0 at the 4:49 mark of the first when Samson Johnson powered his way into the end zone from five yards out. Nolensville scored again a minute later when Ryder Galardi hit Tim Coutras with a 28-yard pass to make it a three score lead. However, in case there was any doubt, the Knights crushed any hopes of a comeback as they scored with a minute left in the first quarter when Galardi ran 30 yards to paydirt to make the score 28-0 after one.

The shell-shocked Tigers couldn’t answer even though they held their hosts out of the end zone for the entire second quarter. The third saw Pistulka stretch the Knight lead with a touchdown dash from the 36.

The only bright spot on offense for the Tiers came with 9:35 left in the game when running back Nathaniel Crook found the end zone from five yards out. A blocked Alan Munoz extra point attempt made it 35-6. Nolensville’s Pistulka made the final 42-6 when he scored from the 36 with just three minutes left in the ball game.