When DeKalb County head football coach Steve Trapp released the 2011 football schedule, rival Watertown was not a game slated for the Tigers to play.
When the DCHS team was invited to play Watertown in the Jamboree, Tiger football purists felt like all was right in the world. With the feel of a regular season game, the intensity was high on both sides of the football field.
The DCHS football team went into Saturday night’s Jamboree game with questions about what players would be ready for the season opener. The Tigers came out of the game looking as if everyone was ready.
In a game controlled by the Tigers from the beginning, the black and gold looked sharp and very focused.
Led by a rushing attack that averaged over eight yards per carry, DeKalb moved the football extremely well.
The Tigers started the game with the football. There were no kickoffs, so the ball was placed on their own 30-yard line.
 On the first play of the game, it was clear that DeKalb was committed to running the football. With the Tigers eating up so much yardage while running the ball, there was really no need to throw downfield.
Setting the tone for the game in the first play of the contest, Tiger running back Dylan Freeney bolted through the line for a gain of 13 yards and a first down.
Then quarterback Lucas Phillips ran the ball for two yards to make it a second down and eight yards to go for a first down.
Phillips dropped back and found Will Molander open for a completion of 12 yards and a first down. On the first down play, Freeney blasted around the end for a big gain, carrying the ball to the Watertown 27-yard line.
On first down, Tiger wide receiver, Will Molander, took a handoff on the end around and weaved his way through the defenders for a gain of five yards.
After yet another 13-yard blast through the middle of the defense, Freeney took the ball down to the 9-yard line.
After a quarterback draw that added five more yards, Phillips then handed the ball to wide receiver Zach Taylor on the end-around play.
Taylor squeezed his way into the end zone for the score. His point after try was good.
The football was placed on the Watertown's 30-yard line, and that is where they began their first possession.
Watertown's first two plays were stuffed by the Tiger defense.
On third down, DeKalb's Cody Puckett was called for pass interference, giving the Purple Tigers a fresh set of downs.
With the ball on their own 47-yard line, Watertown hoped to capitalize on the mistake, but the Black and Gold defense stood strong.
Watertown ran the ball for no gain, then on the next two plays they threw the football for two incompletions.
Facing fourth down, Watertown elected to punt the ball away.
DeKalb started their second drive of the night from their own 18-yard line. Tiger running back Cody Puckett took the hand off and raced around the right side for a gain of five yards.
After a false start penalty, the ball was back on the 18-yard line.
On second down Puckett's number was called once again, with the junior running hard as he gained seven yards.
On third down, needing only three yards for a first, Coach Trapp called a perfectly timed pass play. Phillips took a quick three-step drop and fired an accurate pass to receiver Zach Thompson, who made a nice catch for a pick up of five yards and the first down.
After a fumbled snap and a loss of two yards, Tiger running back Chris Chapman got in on the fun, accounting for 32 yards on the next two plays.
On first down at the Watertown 40-yard line, fullback Sebastian Phillips got the football and ran for one yard as time expired in the first quarter.
The Tigers led 7-0.
In the first play of the second quarter the Tigers had some miscommunication, as Phillips tried to hand off the ball to the running back, but the runner was not there.
After losing eight yards on the broken play, the Tigers faced a third and long.
Tiger QB Lucas Phillips dropped back and found an open Zach Thompson.
As the ball reached Thompson, a Watertown defender nailed the senior wide receiver to knock the ball loose for an incompletion.
DeKalb elected to punt the football. The ball was downed at the Watertown 16-yard line.
On the first down play, the Watertown running back took the hand off on the left side, and then he reversed his field and came around the right side. As he did, there were two different holding penalties called against Watertown,


pushing the home team deeper into their own territory.
Requiring 19 yards for a first down, Watertown's backs were against the wall. Needing to put a drive together, just to stay in the game, Watertown responded.
On first and second downs, the Purple Tigers ran the ball for a gain of 15 yards. And, on third down and four yards to go for a first, Watertown threw the football coming up just short of the first.
However, a late hit by DeKalb gave Watertown a fresh set of downs. On first down, from the Watertown 45-yard line, Watertown gained four yards on a run by their running back. Another run for 11 yards gave the Purple Tigers another first down.
Two more run plays netted a total of eight yards, bringing up third down and 2 yards to go for the first down. The Watertown QB called his own number, gaining just enough yards for the first down.
After a run play that resulted in a loss of three yards, Watertown went to the air on the next play, connecting for a 14-yard gain. With first and goal at the 3-yard line, the Purple Tigers ran a fullback trap play for one yard. Then on second down, from the 2-yard line, Watertown's QB sneaked his way across the goal line for the touchdown.
Watertown tied the game 7-7 with only 2:02 minutes remaining in the game. With little time left the Tigers ran their two-minute offense but was unable to score before time ran out. At the end of the second quarter, and thus the end of the game, the score was even at 7 apiece.
Both teams brought in reserves and played an additional 12-minute quarter. DeKalb's running back, Luke Boss and quarterback, Aaron Patterson played well for the Tigers during this extra quarter. Neither team scored additional points, and the final score was 7-7. After the game, The Smithville Review talked with Head Coach Steve Trapp and asked him his thoughts on the game.
Coach Trapp stated, “I am proud of the way the guys stepped out here, the first drive; that's the way you want to start any game. We've been telling the guys all week that we were not going to do a whole lot of game planning for this event. I really just wanted to see how they were going to step out on the field, what kind of attitude, effort, focus that they were going to have. For the most part, we got that. We are pleased with their effort. I liked a lot of the execution that I saw, but as always there are things that we need to work on, and we are going to do that next week.”
The DCHS football team travels to McMinnville to play Warren County on Friday night at 7:00 pm. Come out and support your DeKalb County High School Tigers. “TIGER PRIDE!”