The Pee-Wee Tigers took the Western Conference Championship from the Cookeville Pee-Wee Cavaliers Saturday in Smithville.
After playing the Cavaliers to a triple-overtime standstill before winning by a touchdown the last time the teams met, the Tigers took Cookeville down in a 12-6 game to win the conference title.
The teams battled it out without scoring in the first quarter.
Cookeville brought the ball to the DeKalb 13-yard line early in the second quarter of the game, where the Cavaliers fumbled and recovered the ball. The DeKalb defense shut the visiting team down on a fourth and seven play, taking possession of the ball on their own nine-yard line.
Nick “Bam-Bam” Murphy promptly broke loose with a 16-yard run, but the Tigers soon found themselves at third and seven. A holding call put the Tigers in a third and 17 situation, and a run for no gain on the next play gave the ball back to the Cavaliers with 32 seconds left in the first half.
Cookeville failed to make any headway, and the first half of the defensive battle ended with the score still tied 0-0.
The Tigers took the ball at the beginning of the third quarter, and Jacob Stewart ran for a first down. DeKalb finally put six on the board a few plays later, when Ryan Lyons took the pigskin into the end zone from 42 yards out. A failed extra point conversion put DeKalb up 6-0.
Cookeville trailed until the 5:36 mark in the fourth quarter, when they tied the score on a short run. A failed EP left the score at 6-6.
Not to be outdone, Ryan Lyons took the ball across the goal line again for the Tigers with 5:10 left in the game. A failed EP attempt put DeKalb up 12-6.
The Cavaliers turned the ball over on downs on their next possession, then DeKalb did the same. Walter Bryant sacked the Cavalier QB for a 12-yard loss after Cookeville regained the ball, and it was soon returned to the Tigers on downs.
The final buzzer sounded with DeKalb still leading the game 12-6.
The Pee-Wee Tigers, now 7-1 and ranked ninth in the state, will travel to Jamestown next Saturday to face Fentress County at noon. Fentress is the only team to defeat the Tigers this year, taking a 19-0 win in the first game of the season.
