The DeKalb County Tiger football team traveled to Crossville Friday night to take on the Stone Memorial Panthers. In a game dominated by the Panthers rushing attacks, the Tigers gave up 388 yards and five touchdowns on the ground as Stone Memorial handed DeKalb their first loss of the season 49-17.

The Tigers took the opening kick-off 68 yards with a 15-play drive, but had to settle for a 24-yard field goal by junior kicker Matthew Poss at the 8:31 mark of the first quarter to take the early 3-0 lead.

With 5:18 remaining in the first quarter, Stone Memorial’s Justin Johnson’ eight-yard touchdown put his team 7-3.

On the Tigers second play of their ensuing possession, quarterback Steven Jennings connected with receiver Isaiah Jones on a 63-yard touchdown pass to regain the lead 10-7.

Six plays later, the Panther’s Justin Johnson scored his second touchdown of the night on a 16-yard romp that put his team ahead 14-10.

On their next possession, the Tigers marched down the field to the Panthers’ eight-yard line, but the 15-play drive stalled when quarterback Steven Jennings was sacked for the second consecutive play on the fourth-down conversion attempt.

Taking possession of the football, the Panthers extended their lead to 21-10 with 2:10 remaining in the second quarter on a 12-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Austin Helton to Chandler Vanatter.

After a Tiger punt, the Panthers once again hit pay dirt when Ethan Pierce’s 65-yard sprint to the end zone with just 35 second remaining in the first-half padded Stone Memorial’s lead to 28-10.

The third quarter belonged to Stone Memorial, as the Panthers added Austin Helton to Cody Wyllin 20-yard touchdown pass and a 73-yard Justin Johnson touchdown run that inflated their lead to 42-10.

With 7:34 remaining in the game, Dylan Greenwood crossed the goal line from five-yards out to push the Panther lead to 49-10.

For the first time since the first quarter, the Tigers put points on the scoreboard when back-up quarterback Tyler Cantrell completed a 46-yard touchdown pass to freshman Grayson Redmon with only 4:45 remaining to put the score at the final mark of 49-17.

Tiger quarterback Steven Jennings went 10 of 21 for 151 yards with one touchdown while adding 60 yards on 15 carries on the ground with one fumble.

Running back Drew Castorena had nine carries for 34 yards, while A.J Mooneham added 22 yards on just three carries.

Matthew Poss had five receptions for 56 yards to lead the Tigers. Christian Pruitt recorded three catches for 17 yards while Bradley Miller pulled in two for 21 yards.

Defensively for the Tigers, sophomore tackling machine Jess Smith led the way with nine stops. Troy Bain was next with four.

The Tigers, 1-1, will travel to Jamestown Friday night to take on York Institute. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.

Tiger Pride!