Their first home game on Thursday night. After a nine-day span between games, the Saints looked like a completely different team. Hosting a Gordonsville Middle School Tigers team, Head Coach Tad Webb and his staff had their young men ready to play.
The Saints started the game with the football on their own 6-yard line. On first down, DMS running back, A.J. Mooneyham, set the tone for the game as he ran hard for a gain of 11 yards.
The Saints moved the ball well on their first drive with a key play being a punt by the Saints that was fumbled by the Tigers and recovered by the Saints to keep the drive alive. But, later in the drive on fourth down, a fake punt came up short for the Saints, turning the ball over on downs.
On just their third play from scrimmage, the Tigers quarterback, Damian Davis, connected with running back John Taylor Johnson on a 60-yard touchdown pass for the first score of the game. Dustin Holder ran for the 2-point conversion with only 24 seconds left in the first quarter. The Tigers led 8-0.
The Saints responded when Mooneyham took the pitch from quarterback Joey Moon on an option play and scampered 56-yards to the end zone for the Saints touchdown. Mooneyham blasted into the end zone for the 2-point conversion and tied the game with 7:37 left in the first half.
The Tigers wasted no time; on the first play of the drive, QB Holder called his own number and ran for a 33-yard score. Johnson ran in the 2-point conversion, and Gordonsville jumped ahead 16-8 with 7:08 remaining in the first half.
Saints kick returner, Seth Wright, made a nice return carrying the ball to the Saint 42-yard line. On second down, Saint lineman Devin Bain opened up a big hole and Mooneyham darted through it and raced 35-yards to the end-zone. Mooneyham's 2-point conversion run was good and once again the game was tied at 16.
With just 2:26 left in the first half, Gordonsville's Holder scored his second touchdown of the night on a 14-yard run.
DeKalb's next drive ended on the last play of the half as Holder stepped in front of a Joey Moon pass. Holder streaked down the sideline but a hustle play by Jessie Van Dyne prevented a Tiger touchdown. At the half the Tigers led the Saints 22-16.
The Tigers received the ball to begin the second half. On just the second play, Holder scored his fourth touchdown on a 35-yard run. Holder also ran in the 2-point conversion.
Finding themselves down by a score of 30-16, the Saints needed to make some big plays. On the first play, QB Joey Moon, dropped back and found an open Trenton Nicholson, who raced down the field for a 73-yard touchdown. The 2-point conversion run was no good.
With Gordonsville's offense moving the ball so well, the Saints defense needed to make a stop. Saints' defensive lineman, Nathan Moore, stepped up and sacked the Tigers QB on second down. Gordonsville was forced to punt.
The Saints, with great field position, started their drive on the Tigers 20-yard line. On first down, Moon ran to the 1-yard line, setting up a first and goal. On fourth and goal from the 4-yard line, Mooneyham blazed across the goal line to pull within two point of the visiting team. The 2-point conversion run by Mooneyham was good, and the game was tied at 30.
The Saint defense needed someone again to step up. This time it was Seth Wright with his interception of a Davis pass. Wright returned the ball midfield. QB Joey Moon took the next play 50-yards to pay dirt. The 2-point run failed, but DeKalb led for the first time 36-30.
Needing to find the end zone, the Tigers' QB, Holder raced 67-yards to the end zone. The 2-point conversion run was not good. And yet again the game was tied at 36.
The Saints covered an on-side kick, by the Tigers. DMS had good field position at the Saint 49-yard line. On the seventh play of the drive, Joey Moon kept the ball and scampered 33 yards for the go ahead touchdown. Mooneyham's 2-point conversion run was good and with only 2:52 remaining in the game, the Saints led 44-36.
On the next drive, Gordonsville fumbled the ball on the first play with the Saints pouncing on it. With first and ten on the Tigers' 30-yard line, Saints' RB A.J. Mooneyham ended any hoped the Tigers might have had, with a 30-yard touchdown run. Only 2:32 remained in the game and Mooneyham's 2-point run conversion was good. The Saints led 52-36.
The Tigers were not able to score again as the game ended with a score in favor of the Saints 52-36.
Saints, A.J. Mooneyham had a huge night, carrying the ball 20 times for 230 yards with four touchdowns.  Joey Moon, QB, added 107 yards on 11 carries and also went 2 of 5 passes for 84 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
After the game, the Smithville Review got Coach Webb's reaction about the outcome of the game.
The Smithville Review: Your team fought really hard tonight. What is your reaction to your team's performance?
Head Coach Tad Webb: I was proud of the way that they fought. That first half, we had many opportunities and reasons to lay down, but I talked to them and challenged them at half time, and they stepped up to the challenges in front of them.
Review: A.J. Mooneyham and Joey Moon had a great game. Do you have any thoughts about their contributions to the win?
Webb: They gutted it up. I challenged and talked to them. I told them that we needed the leaders to step up, and they did.
When asked about the what Webb did different this week, he responded, “We went at them; we challenged them. We tweaked some things this week. We had some things that we had wanted to put in offensively. We didn't have the opportunity to do it before. We were able to get some of that stuff in this week. We were looking for an identity offensively, because some of the things we did in the past were not our identity with this ball club. We had to change things up.
He continued, “This week, in practice, we were very physical. We were on them hard. We corrected them, and it paid off. They did some things well tonight. Offensively, they played well tonight. I am as shocked as anyone else about throwing up 52 points against Gordonsville. The running backs got some creases, and we took advantage of them. Unfortunately, for both teams, there was not a lot of defense. We gritted it up and played when we had to. And, that was the difference.”
The DMS Saints head up with Macon County at home on Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 6:30 pm. Come out and support your hometown team!