The Tigers stone walled Smith County Friday evening, stopping the Owls five yards short of the end zone as the clock ticked down to claim a 28-24 in the nip and tuck battle, setting up a showdown for second place in the region next week in Smithville against Macon County.

Clinging to a 28-24 advantage, the Tigers found themselves with their backs up against the wall in the waning moments of the fourth quarter as the Owls had driven themselves inside the DeKalb County five. However, the Tigers were able to old on three days, setting up a fourth down, do-or-die play for the Owls. Smith County went to the air to try to seal the deal on the all-or-nothing fourth down. The result was a reception for John Ross Hord but a victory for the Tigers as they stopped him short of the goal line preserving the win.

The victory was hard-fought for the now 4-4 Tigers as they found themselves down early thanks to their fumble deep in their own territory. Given the ball at the Tiger 8, the Owls made short work of the short field with Hord doing the honors with a one-yard dive.

The Tigers evened the tally just two minutes later after DeKalb mounted a frantic 70-yard drive culimnatng with an 18-yard sprint by Nathaniel Crook.

The scoring was not over in the first quarter as the Owls scored with just over two minutes to go in the opening stanza, taking a 14-7 lead. However, it would not be enough to lead going into the second quarter as Tiger quarterback Axel Aldino evened the score at 14-14 when he found Evan Jones for an eight-yard touchdown hook up with just two ticks left in the first.

The second proved to be scoreless with the next mark on the scoreboard coming in the third when Aldino hit Isaac Knowles for a 36-yard touchdown pass. The Owls didn’t let the moss grow under them as they evened the count after an 81-yard drive to make it 21-21. The Owls would go on to take a 24-21 lead at the eight-minute mark of the fourth with a 27-yard field goal.

However, Aldino would win the game with a quarterback sneak from the 4 with four minutes to go I the game to add the winning margin.

With the win, the Tigers guarantee themselves a playoff spot and set up a show down in Smithville this Friday night against Macon County to see who will get not only second in the region but also a home playoff game to start the post-season. The loser will take third and have to go on the road to begin the playoffs.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Friday at VanHooser Stadium.