It was a perfect night for football last Friday night. The local fans were out in force, the student body was fired up, and the Tigers were on the field ready to play. It was a crisp clear fall evening, and the Tigers were ready for their homecoming game against Livingston Academy, where a few milestones would be achieved. 

The Wildcats would get the ball to start the game, returning to their own 27. From there, they wouldn’t get much. They would reach the 33 before having to punt.

The Tigers wouldn’t do much better, starting at the Livingston 48, but only netting three yards before they themselves would be forced to punt.

The Wildcats would be backed up to their own 14, but after an incomplete pass to Jake Hughes, a false start penalty backed them up to their own nine. A high snap resulted in only a two-yard gain on the next play, then a pass to Logan Johnson fell incomplete. They would again line up to punt. The kick was up but blocked, with Trace Hamilton scooping it up and running it back for the Tigers’ first score of the night. Juan Ortega’s extra point was good, and just like that DeKalb was up 7-0 with 8:06 left in the first.

On the kickoff, Jackson Boles would return to the Livingston 37, but right off the bat a false start backed them up five more. With a pass broken up by Hamilton, and a sack by Colby Barnes, the Wildcats would again punt.

Holden Trapp would return to the DeKalb 40, but a false start on the Tigers backed them up to the 35. From there it was all Colby Barnes. A run up the sidelines was good to the 48, then another carry was good to the Wildcat 33. Barnes gained five more yards, then he would carry it in for his first touchdown of the night. A bad snap on the PAT resulted in the extra point being no good, but the Tigers were up 13-0 with 4:32 left in the first.

Livingston would start their next possession at their own 26 and lose yards on the drive. On a fourth and 19 they would again punt, with the ball rolling dead at the 50. It wouldn’t take long for DeKalb. Once again Barnes was handed the ball, running it all the way in for the touchdown. Another bad snap resulted in the Tigers falling on the ball, but the Tigers held a 19-0 lead with 2:44 left in the first.

On the kickoff, a muffed return resulted in the Wildcats falling on the ball back at their own three yard line. It was a dire mistake for the visiting team. Boles would lose a yard on a keeper, then on the next play he would be caught in the end zone for a safety.

With the safety, Livingston would have to kick off to DeKalb, and Holden Trapp would return to the 36 yard line. From there, the Tigers would mount yet another scoring drive. A Jordan Parker keeper was downed for a loss, then Barnes carried the ball to the 42.

Another Barnes run took the Tigers down to the Wildcat 28, then, as the second quarter began, Parker ran for two more yards. Barnes would carry three more times to the 17, then a pass to Holden Trapp fell incomplete. They would give it to Barnes two more times, one run to the 12, and the next in for six. The PAT was no good, but DeKalb held a 27-0 lead with 9:02 left in the first half.

It was a night where the Wildcats couldn’t get out of their own way. On the kick off, Livingston got the ball at their own 30. There, a lateral to Dylan Watson was fumbled, with the Tigers’ big guy, Wil Farris, picking it up and running it in for a touchdown. The PAT saw another bad snap, but Ortega’s kick was good. The Tigers were up, 34-0 with 8:44 left in the half.

With DeKalb’s kick going out of bounds, Livingston would seemingly have good field position, but it wouldn’t matter. Aided by a delay of game penalty, the Wildcats would go three and out.

After a Barnes run to the DeKalb 38, a fumbled snap saw Parker fall on the ball back at the 33. From there, a Parker pass to John Ellis was good to the 45. Two more carries by Barnes carried the Tigers to the Wildcat 33, then another Ellis reception was good to the 32. Barnes was handed the ball again, dragging Wildcat players with him and aided by a facemask penalty, down to the eight yard line. He was handed the ball again, in for six. With the PAT, the Tigers commanded a 41-0 lead with 2:25 left in the half.

That’s where the score would stay until the second half, where the Mercy Rule came into effect. With the clock running the Tigers looked to add even more points to the board. The Tigers would get the ball to start the third quarter, and start from their own 20. From there it was all Barnes.

His first run was good to the 23, then another to the 39. He would lose a yard on his next carry, but would be down to the Wildcat 35 on the next play. Barnes ran to the 22, then the 15, then once more in for the touchdown. With the extra point, DeKalb was up 48-0 with 7:26 left on in the third.

With the time ticking away quickly, that’s where the score would stay. The Tigers pulled most of their starters, and the Wildcats showed some life, but would never find the end zone. DeKalb would hold on to claim the 48-0 homecoming shutout.

The game saw Colby Barnes break the single game rushing record for DeKalb County, with 356 yards on 30 carries. Barnes claims an impressive 1,366 yards on the season so far, on 165 rushes with 16 touchdowns, averaging 195 yards per game.

Jon Hendrix had two carries for 36 yards in the game, while Ari White had two for four yards, Juan Ortega one for one, and quarterback Jordon Parker four runs for -3 yards. John Ellis had two receptions for 12 yards. The night was also special for Tiger Head Coach Steve Trapp who recorded his 100th win of his career.

Head Coach Steve Trapp commented after the game about his 100th win. “It’s been 18 years getting here and that feels good, but I’m more excited about these guys getting their sixth win tonight. Like I told these guys in the huddle, I’m more interested in our next game. We have a bye week this week, but our next three games are going to be dog fights. We’ve played really well in the middle of the season, but we need to finish strong and continued to get better.”

Coach Trapp also commended Colby Barnes on his record breaking night. “He’ll be the first to tell you that he couldn’t have done it without his linemen and his teammates around him. We’ve got a bunch of guys making plays for us, and they’re going to do that when their number is called. We’re going to keep working to be better the next chance we get.”

DeKalb is 6-1 overall and 2-1 in Region 4, Class 4 A. Stone Memorial is 7-0 and 3-0 in region play, while Macon County is 6-1 (2-1) and Upperman is 5-2 (2-1). Both Cumberland County and Livingston Academy are now 0-7 (0-3).

The Tigers have a bye week this week, before battling through their final regular season games. They travel to Upperman October 14, Goodpasture October 21, and end the regular season at home against Stone Memorial on October 28.