Down by a touchdown at the half with a home playoff game hanging in the balance, the DeKalb County Tigers shutout Macon County in the second half to claim at 26-13 win, guarantee a winning season record and in all likelihood a home game on Nov. 8 in the first round of the state playoffs.
The final piece of the puzzle will be complete when they travel to Crossville on Nov. 1 for their final regular season game. A win against the winless Cumberland County squad and the Tigers will finish second in the district behind on Livingston Academy. In between now and then the Tigers will rest up during a bye-week before taking on the Jets.
It was a showdown when Macon County came calling at VanHooser Stadium during senior night this past Friday. And, Macon struck first as they culminated a 63-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown dash by Cameron Houston with a minute to go in the first quarter.
The Tigers responded when Axel Aldino found Desmond Nokes wide open for a 67-yard bomb to give the home team a 7-6 advantage which it appeared they would take into the locker room at half-time. However, a failed Tiger drive late in the quarter led to a botched punt that was blocked by Macon defenders, leaving the visitors with a short field. They made the Tigers pay with 23 seconds left in the half with a Jon Mark Gammons to Cameron Mercer 14-yard hook up. The score stood at 13-6 at the half. It would be the last time Macon would see the end zone.
DeKalb drew to a 13-13 tie with only a few ticks left in the third quarter when Alan Munoz caught an Aldino pass. The drive was set up by Isaac Knowles when he picked off a pass a returned it to the Macon 18, leaving the Tigers with a short field.
The Tigers then ground the game out in the fourth as they went on a time-consuming 94-yard drive, culminating with a 50-yard bomb from Aldino to Nokes.
The final blow came when Nathaniel Crook burst through the line for a 19-yard touchdown which capped a 53-yard Tiger drive.
The win leaves the Tigers with a 5-4 overall record and a 2-1 record in the district with wins over Macon and a 36-0 blowout win over Stone. Their only loss came to first-place Livingston. Macon is also 2-1 in the district but, provided DeKalb beats Cumberland, would lose the tie breaker to the Tigers.
