The DeKalb County High School Football Tigers were back on their home field last Friday night, celebrating homecoming with a win over the Macon County Tigers. The win ended a two-game losing streak, and kept the team alive for the postseason.
There was a large crowd on hand for the first home game in six weeks for the Tigers. After a tough road schedule, fans were ready for some real DeKalb football, and the black and gold would not disappoint.
Right from the beginning, it was clear DeKalb meant business. Macon received the ball first, fielding the kickoff to their own 35, but the black and gold defense was ready to play. DeKalb held their Tiger counterparts to a three-and-out for a negative 10 yards.
The resulting punt set DeKalb up at their own 44, and they looked to move in for quick a score. Luke Boss was handed the ball the first three plays, moving to the DeKalb 47, then the Macon 42, and then the 40. There, on a second and eight, quarterback Steven Jennings looked for blood, but a pass to Aaron Patterson at the goal line was intercepted at the two-yard-line.
With Macon pinned at the two, the DeKalb D-line got stingy. Macon managed one first down, but would not be able to push past their own 14-yard-line.
DeKalb may have made a miscue on their first drive, but they would not make the same mistake on their second. Returning the punt to the Macon 47, the black and gold moved down the field. With runs by Jonathon Munoz, Boss, option runs by Jennings, and a pass play to A.J. Mooneyham, DeKalb moved nine plays down to the one-yard-line. There, Jennings put it up to Lane Ball for the first touchdown of the game. The extra point kick by Matthew Poss was good, and DeKalb was up 7-0, with 3:00 left in the first quarter.
The kickoff gave Macon the ball at their own 32, and it looked as if the defense was going to come away with another three-and-out, but on a third and six from the 37, Macon broke loose with a long run to the DeKalb 31. Macon moved into the second quarter and five more plays, threatening at the DeKalb 16, but facing a fourth and eight, they decided to go for it. The pass play fell incomplete, and the black and gold Tigers took over on downs.
The stop had the offense pumped up, and they wasted no time making Macon pay. After a keeper netted three yards, then a sack backed DeKalb up at their own 13, a Jennings pass to Boss took them all the way down to the Macon 28. The next play, a keeper, had Jennings into the end zone for six. The kick by Poss was good, and DeKalb’s lead increased 14-0, with 9:16 left in the half.
Macon started their next possession at their own 26, and once again pushed deep into DeKalb territory. Aided by a couple of facemask penalties, the Macon Tigers moved 12 plays down to the DeKalb six-yard-line. There, a high snap on third and goal backed them up to the 12. Then, going for it on fourth and goal, the pass was caught, but a hard hit at the goal line by Patterson denied the touchdown. DeKalb took over on downs, with only inches to spare.
In danger of a safety, DeKalb played it safe, running two plays to the three-yard-line, then getting an incomplete pass on third down.
The punt gave Macon the ball at the DeKalb 33, with 1:17 left in the half, but Macon was not going to squander their opportunity. A pass set them up at the 18, then a pass into the end zone put Macon on the board. With the extra point, the score was 14-7, with 59 seconds left in the half.
With less than a minute left in the half, DeKalb mounted a quick drive of their own. The kickoff gave DeKalb the ball at their own 39, but a QB keeper to midfield, aided by a personal foul penalty by Macon, had the black and gold Tigers set up at the Macon 36. Another keeper moved the ball to the 30, and with only a few seconds left, Jennings attempted a couple of quick passes, which fell incomplete. On fourth down, Jennings threw to Dalton Halfmann as the halftime buzzer sounded. The pass fell incomplete, but an illegal procedure penalty led to one untimed down. Poss was called in for a 30-yard field goal attempt, but the kick was blocked and the half ended.
DeKalb would get the ball at the start of the second half, returning the ball to their own 16-yard-line. Once more, the black and gold Tigers wasted no time moving down the field. A Jennings run took the ball to the 30, then a run by Boss lost three yards. Then, Jennings put the ball in the air to Patterson who took it all the way for six. Poss’ kick was good, and only 16 seconds into the second half DeKalb was up 21-7.
The DeKalb D-line found some renewed energy at halftime and soon took it out on Macon County. The kickoff had Macon at their own 30, and a keeper on the first play netted one yard. Then, a sack by Joseph Pack pushed them back six yards to the 25. An incomplete pass on third down doomed the drive and Macon was forced to punt.
DeKalb started at their own 30, but they were undaunted. A run pushed DeKalb to the 45, then another took them to the 47. Then, a pass to Christian Pruitt moved them down into Macon territory at the 42. Jennings kept the ball on the next play, running up the middle to the 34, and from there, a shuttle pass to Boss had DeKalb back into the end zone. With the extra point, DeKalb was up 28-7, with 7:11 left in the third quarter.
The kickoff went out of bounds, giving Macon the ball at the 35, where they would get a first down to midfield on the first play of the drive. That, as it would turn out, would be the highlight of the possession. Macon would get to the 43 before being forced to once again punt.
DeKalb started at their own 27, but a pair of sacks, and a holding penalty, would doom their drive and force them to punt.
Macon started their next possession at their own 40, but an incomplete pass, penalties, and a fumbled snap, backed them up and once again forced them to punt.
Going into the fourth quarter, DeKalb started at their own 43, and after some sloppy ball on both sides of the field, the black and gold finally got back on track. A run by Boss took them to the 48, then, on the next play, it was Boss again, all the way in for a touchdown. With the extra point, DeKalb pulled away 35-7, with 10:42 left in the game.
Macon started their next possession at their own 33, and managed one first down to the 43. That was as far as they would get. Macon would have a couple of incomplete passes, then another pass was nearly intercepted by Poss. The next play, another pass, was intercepted, this time by Joey Moon at the 37.
DeKalb would not be able to take advantage of the turnover, going three-and-out and being forced to punt.
Poss backed Macon up, with their drive starting at the eight-yard-line. Macon’s game was in desperation mode, with almost all plays in the air. They would move seven plays, to the DeKalb 47, where another pass was picked off by Lane Ball.
Ball ran the ball back to the Macon 17, and from there the ball was handed to Boss who pushed down to the two-yard-line. The next play, Boss was handed the ball again, but fumbled at the goal line. It was Matthew Poss who fell on the ball in the end zone, and got the touchdown. Another kick by Poss gave the DeKalb Tigers what would be the final score for the evening, 42-7.
"Finally we created plays on offense," Head Coach Steve Trapp told the Review. "We were finally able to hit those. We ran the ball extremely well. The offensive line did a great job. Boss and Steven ran the ball very well, and mixed in the pass when we needed to."
He continued, "I can only really think of two drives where we didn’t get anything going offensively, but defensively, great job all the way around tonight by those guys. Special teams changing field position, extra points … I’ve just been waiting on that to come out of these guys this year, and it’s good to get that game and keep that momentum going."
When asked about the postseason and the standings Coach Trapp said they have to continue to play like he knows they can. "Every game is a playoff right now. We’re still in the hunt and that’s our mindset. If we can continue taking care of business, we can finish second in the district. That’s what we’re thinking about, but we’ve narrowed our focus to take care of each and every day and come out and play like we did tonight."
