The DeKalb County High School Football Team started the season with one for the history books on Friday night. Playing at Nunley Stadium in McMinnville, the Tigers were ready to pounce. The time had finally counted down for the team's hard work and dedication to show up on the football field.
Head Coach Steve Trapp, along with his assistants and the team, prepared and were ready to play. The Tiger defense started the game off strong by not allowing the Pioneers the opportunity to move the football. The Pioneers' holding penalty on first down, proved to be too much for the team from McMinnville to over come.
After a three-play-and-out series, the Tiger offense came out for the first time. On their own 42-yard line, establishing the line of scrimmage, DeKalb's offense ran the football extremely well, led by Will Molander's run of 22 yards. However, on first down inside the ten-yard line, DeKalb's Dylan Freeney, fumbled the football on the Pioneers’ 11-yard line, ending the drive for the Tigers.
On the next defensive series, the Tigers allowed the Pioneers to march down the field with a 14-play drive. Mixed with a personal foul called against DeKalb's Zach Taylor, some hard hitting and badly timed false starts against the Pioneers, the Tiger defense did not break. The Pioneer drive ended with a punt, sailing into the end zone for a touchback.
The second drive of the night for the Tigers began at the 20-yard line. The Tigers put together a nice 11-play drive mixing in a key run play on fourth down to Sebastian Phillips and a third down pass reception by Taylor, both for first downs. However, the drive stalled after a dropped pass by the open receiver, forcing the Tigers to punt.
The Tiger defense went onto the football field well rested after the long drive. Senior defensive tackle, Jake Odom, started the series with a tackle in the backfield for a loss of three yards. After a quarterback scramble for ten yards on second down, junior outside linebacker, Cody Puckett broke up a pass on a critical third down, forcing yet another punt.
Starting on their own 32-yard line, the Tigers were eager to move the football down the field and score. Showing some faith in his football team, head coach, Steve Trapp pulled some tricks out of his bag. The Tigers faced two fourth downs and with the first one Trapp called for a fake punt on the Tigers own 38-yard line. Timed and executed perfectly, the run around the left side by Lucas Phillips went all the way to the Pioneer 36-yard line. A gain of 26 yards made by the Tiger quarterback.
Later in the drive, on fourth and one, at the 27-yard line of the Pioneers, Puckett ran hard for three yards to pick up the first down and kept the drive going. On the twelfth play of the drive, wide receiver, Taylor took the hand off from Lucas Phillips around the left side and punched it into the end zone for DeKalb's first touchdown of the season. Taylor's point after try was good and at 3:21 in the second quarter, the Tigers led 7-0.
The Tiger defense again came out rested and swarmed to the football, allowing only one first down before the Pioneers had to punt. With little time left in the first half, the Tigers went into their two-minute offense.
Led by plays from Sebastian Phillips, the Tigers found themselves with a first down on the Pioneer 19-yard line. With just seven seconds remaining in the first half, quarterback Lucas Phillips found an open Will Molander in the end zone and connected for a touchdown. Taylor's PAT was no good. DeKalb led 13-0.
On the ensuing kickoff, DeKalb's special teamer, Sam Giles nailed the return man, firing up the crowd from DeKalb County. At halftime, the Tigers led the Pioneers 13-0.
To begin the third quarter, the Tigers had the ball, but after just three plays, the Black and Gold elected to punt, but the snap sailed over the Tiger Punters head. Taylor was able to pounce on the ball, but the Pioneers took over on the Tiger 18-yard line.
On the third play, with 8:42 remaining in the third quarter, the Warren County Pioneers scored their first touchdown of the season. The PAT was good. DeKalb led 13-7.
With momentum swinging toward the Pioneers, the Tiger squad felt a little urgency. On the ensuing kickoff, Tiger return man, Zach Taylor, put his team in great field position, bringing the ball to the DeKalb 48-yard line.
After a quarterback draw that netted 22-yards and a personal foul against the Pioneers, on first down, Freeney made a nice run for 11 yards, bringing up first and goal at the three yard line. Tiger wide receiver mad a nice move to get open, as quarterback, Lucas Phillips fires the ball to Taylor for the touchdown.
Coach Trapp decided to go for two points, but the option play to running back, Chris Chapman came up short of the goal line. With 7:55 remaining in the third quarter, the Tiger squad led 19-7.
The Pioneer offense came out but put themselves in a hole with two penalties. However, the team from McMinnville was able to connect for a first down on a third and six. Needing a big stop, the Tiger defense was able to come through. On fourth and three on the 39-yard line of the Pioneers, Tiger defensive tackle, Eli Gill, stuffed the Pioneer running back not allowing the first down.
Taking the ball over on downs, the Tigers were in a great field position, but were unable to capitalize on it. Quarterback, Phillips, was sacked on fourth down at the Pioneer 20-yard line.
The Pioneers took over and drove the football down the field with 11 plays. But, on the 12th play of the drive, Tiger cornerback, Alex Hayes made a game changing interception.
The Tiger offense started the next drive on their own 39-yard line. With great play selection by the coaches and great execution by the players, the Tigers had a second and goal. Junior quarterback, Phillips, found wide receiver, Taylor, for their second touchdown connection of the night. Taylor's PAT was good. With 5:38 remaining in the game, the Tigers led 26-7.
The Pioneers received the ball, but were unable to make anything work. On fourth down, they came up short on a fake punt. Giving the ball back, the Tigers were unable to move the chains. The Warren County team got the ball back on their own 33-yard line with only 2:58 left in the game. On the fifth play, Tiger cornerback, Zach Taylor, put an exclamation point on his night with an interception that would end any hopes for the Pioneers.
The next Tigers offensive play was the Victory Formation play, with quarterback, Lucas Phillips, kneeling down to run out the clock. The Tiger team made history, being the first DeKalb County Football Team to defeat Warren County in McMinnville.
After the game, Trapp gave statements following the game.
In reference to the defense, Trapp said, “It's very enjoyable to see that the other team only scored sever points, and I don't think they would have scored there, had we not messed up a punt. We have to be cleaner. It's definitely cleaner than last year, when we played these guys, and that's the difference in the ballgames.”
“I am really proud of the defense. Alex Hayes' interception really turned the game around. Down here on their end, are they going to score or not? Then, a real big play for us was the interception.”
“The defense did what they were supposed to do, limit the Pioneers to a few scoring opportunities. I thought we flew to the ball well. A lot of guys were laying some lumber and ultimately, we can only get better.”
“I can not say enough about how good Sebastian Phillips did tonight, on both sides of the ball. Big E, Eli Gill, in the middle, is not going to make a whole lot of tackles probably, but he will slow them down enough for Sebastian to come and clean it up.”
“Cody Puckett, on the outside, had a lot of big hits tonight. Ricky Spare had some, but we need to clean up some pass coverage concepts. A team that throws the ball better, might be able to take advantage of that.”
“But, I am pleased with the way the guys came up and hit and over how well they executed our game plan.”
In reference to the offense, Trapp stated, “Offensively, Lucas Phillips did what he is called to do, and that is drive the offense down the field. Third down conversion, fourth down conversion, and a fake punt that was a long drive right there.”
“Our goal is to have two 12 play drives. I know there was probably one. He put the ball where it needed to be. We had some drops and that is something we will work on. Ultimately, with what they were doing against us, we needed receivers to make plays. Will Molander's catch, in the end zone was a big time play for us, but we are going to have to have outside receivers step up and make some plays, because they were blitzing so much to take away the run. So, we need some outside receivers to make some plays for us against man to man. We did that a little bit.”
“The running game went real well, and I thought our offense was balanced. We got a lot of guys in on the action tonight. They made plays when they needed to and ultimately, it was good enough to get the victory tonight.”
When asked about Senior Zach Taylor's performance, Coach Trapp responded, “It was a career game for him, with two receiving touchdowns and one rushing touchdown, one interception, and two touchbacks, but he missed one extra point, and I think he can do it better. This kid's attitude this year is outstanding. In the past, he would get down on himself so much that he couldn't do what we were asking him to do. But, this year, it has been amazing. He gets after it in practice. What he has been doing, since spring, in the weight room and on the practice field, the community got to see tonight. He got rewarded with his game performance, and I am really proud for Zach tonight.”
The Tigers play Clay County in Smithville on Friday night at 7:00 pm. Everyone come out and support your team. TIGER PRIDE!