The DeKalb County High School Tigers football team traveled to McMinnville, TN, last Friday night, playing a game that had originally been scheduled as their season opener. The game against the Pioneers had to be postponed due to COVID-19 amongst the Warren County players, and with both teams having a scheduled bye week on October 8, the match was rescheduled for that date.

It would be a good night for the Tigers, as the Pioneer defense struggled to find an answer to the running game of Colby Barnes and Isaac Knowles. DeKalb dominated early in the game and never looked back.

The Pioneers would get the ball to start the game, and with a kick out of bounds, would start at their own 35. However, the drive would be doomed with a holding penalty and a sack back at the 15, and they would soon have to punt. 

The Tigers would start their first possession at the Warren 44, and looked to put points on the board. A run by Barnes was good to the 39, then a pass to Silas Cross was negated by an ineligible man down field call. A pass to Knowles flew out of bounds, and on a third and 11 play, QB Briz Trapp kept the ball himself and reached the 33. That coupled with a late hit penalty on the Pioneers, set the Tigers up at the eight yard line. Barnes was handed the ball and was in for the touchdown. The Axel Aranda PAT was good, and with 7:37 left in the first, DeKalb was up 7-0.

On the kickoff, Donathan Lewis returned to the 32, then a run by Braylon Grayson was good to the 45. Later, another Grayson run was good to the DeKalb 47, then a keeper by QB Nathan Elrod took the ball to the 46. Facing a fourth and one, Warren County went for it. The keeper was good at the 45, keeping the drive alive.

From there, the drive would stall. A run by Eli Cantrell was stuffed, then an Elrod fumble ended with him falling on the ball back at the 47. On a third and 12, a delay penalty backed them up five more, then a pass play fell incomplete. Facing a fourth and 17, the Pioneers punted.

The punt would roll dead at the DeKalb 17, and from there it looked as if the Tigers would again be moving the ball down the field. But the Tigers’ old problem of bad snaps would once again come into play.

A Barnes run was good to the 21, then, as the second quarter began, while in the Wildcat formation a direct snap to Knowles was good to the 36. A pass to John Ellis was complete to the 39, then another Wildcat play saw the ball shoot through the hands of Knowles. He would fall on the ball back at the 27. A Trapp keeper on the next play was stuffed, and DeKalb was forced to punt.

The Pioneers had good field position on their next drive, returning the punt to the DeKalb 49. A run gained one yard, then a pass to Alex Van Vuuren was good to the 39. There, a handoff to Grayson was caught in the backfield at the 44, then a pass to Lewis fell incomplete. The next play, a pass to Grayson, was intercepted by Knowles at the DeKalb 11.

DeKalb would move the ball downfield, but again would be plagued by mistakes and penalties. They would overcome a false start penalty that backed them up to their own eight, and would push to their 48. There, on a fourth and one play, the Tigers lined up to punt, but the snap went to Knowles instead who ran to the Pioneer 45.

An illegal formation call backed them five, then a pass to Knowles was good to the 36. Barnes was handed the ball, pushing for a first down at the 33, then a Trapp keep was good at the 30. There, a pass went over Knowles’ head in the end zone and a hold backed them up to the 35. Again, a bad snap killed their momentum, with the ball shooting over Trapp’s head, with him falling on it at the 43. The Tigers would again punt.

The ball would roll dead, giving the Pioneers the ball at their own three, with only 1:15 left in the half. They would only make their own 30 before halftime.

The Tigers would get the ball to begin the second half, and would quickly add points to the board. With the kick out of bounds, DeKalb would start at their own 35. A Trapp keeper was stopped at the line, then a direct snap to Knowles was good all the way down to the Warren 28. Another keeper was good to the 23, then Barnes was handed the ball again. He pushed his way in for six. With the Aranda extra point was good and DeKalb was up 14-0 with 10:03 left in the third.

Things only got worse for the Pioneers. A pooch kick gave them the ball at their own 39, then a Pleasant run was good to the 45. There, a false start backed them up, then a Grayson carry was good all the way down to the DeKalb 17. Another run was good to the 16, then a fumbled snap ended with the Tigers’ Tyler Estes falling on the ball at the DeKalb 23.

Sloppy play seemed contagious as DeKalb would soon have a turnover of their own. A wildcat run by Knowles was good for nearly ten, then a Barnes run was good to the 46. There, another false start backed them up five, then another wildcat run by Knowles was good to the 44. A keep was good for no gain, then a pass to Knowles was good to the Warren 40.

The Tigers looked as if they would add points. Another Barnes run was down at the 35, then a Knowles keep was good to the 13. It was there that yet another bad snap doomed the drive. The snap was recovered by the Pioneers at their own 36.

The Pioneers finally had some good fortune, but it wouldn’t last long. An Elrod run was good to the 38, then a run by Grayson was swamped back at the 32. On a third and 14 play, a pass was intercepted by Knowles and run all the way back for the touchdown. With the extra point, the Tigers were up 21-0 with 1:29 left in the third.

Warren County was in desperation mode on their next possession. Starting at their own 17, a Grayson run lost a yard, then another was run out of bounds at the DeKalb 49. There, a pass to Grayson got three as the fourth quarter began, then a run netted one more. Grayson ran one more to the 48. Facing a fourth down, the Pioneers went for it. The keeper was good only to the 43, and the Tigers took over on downs.

The Tigers would soon add nails to the coffin. A Barnes run was good to the Pioneer 45, then another was good to the 20. A false start backed DeKalb up five, but another Barnes carry was good to the six. There, he was handed the ball once more, and in for six. With the extra point, the Tigers commanded a 28-0 lead, with 8:01 left to play.

The Pioneers had one last chance to avoid the shutout, and starting from their own 19, would drive down the field. The clock was their biggest opponent, and as the seconds ticked away they were able to drive all the way down to the Tiger 13. There, a Lewis run was stopped for a two-yard loss, and on a fourth down another run was shut down. The Tigers took the 28-0 shutout victory.

The win puts the Tigers at 5-2 on the year, 2-1 in the region.

“We had some ugly football in the first quarter,” Head Coach Steve Trapp said after the game. “We started out great, then just had some ugly football. The penalties and the snaps gets us behind the chains, then it throws our offense out of whack. In the second half we simplified things. We’re going to run the football in a lot of different ways, and it seemed to work out pretty good for us.”

The Tigers next face Upperman at home next Friday night, October 15, in a big region game. The Bees are 6-1, leading the region standings at 3-0 including a win over Macon County. When asked about the big region game next week against Upperman, Coach Trapp said his team will be ready. “We want to win every game,” Trapp said. “It is a big game next week. People can look at scores if they want to. Macon beat us, Upperman beat Macon, that’s all fine and dandy. We’re going to be prepared. We’re going to be ready to play, and it’s going to be a good game next week.”