After containing the Purple Tigers on the opening drive Friday night, the DCHS Tiger team looked poised to capture its first win of the season after a 71-yard touchdown pass from QB Tyler Cantrell to Paxton Butler put the Tigers on the board first for a 6-0 lead with 9:36 on the clock.
Tiger Andrew Fuson’s PAT was good for the 7-0 score.
The game stayed promising until late in the third with the Tigers just 3-points shy, 24-21. With 7:18 left to play, it was still anyone’s ballgame.
That’s when fortune favored the Purple Tigers, who dominated the second half and won the game 59-21, leaving DeKalb still searching for answers.
“Turnovers were huge, we had five turnovers and they scored on every single one of them,” said Tiger Head Coach Steve Trapp. “We fumbled inside the 2-yard line, two punts, the two picks … if we don’t have those in the first half, we were making some big plays but we can’t survive on big plays and we’ve got to be able to execute offensively and we weren’t doing a lot of stuff right.”
The Tigers second score in the first half came from Cantrell’s pass to Braxton Linder and a good PAT by Fuson with 1:16 left in the half.
Bringing the game within grasp in the third was DeKalb’s Bradley Miller's 1-yard TD run with 7:18 remaining. Fuson’s PAT was good to bring the Tigers as close as they would get, 24-21.
“I think we actually regressed,” Trapp said. “I thought we were making strides up front and playing better but this was absolutely horrendous. We made some things happen but you can’t take away the fourth quarter. You have to execute better and when we look at stuff as it happens on the sideline there and we don’t see things getting done right and it’s not like we’re not working.”
DeKalb’s woes started in earnest as Watertown scored 35 unanswered points from the 2:35 minute marker in the third through the remainder of the ballgame. From miscues during punts to interceptions, DeKalb’s series of unfortunate events began and continued for the rest of the contest.
“Execution is what it comes down to. We’re at the point now at 0-4 where they haven’t felt any joy whatsoever, but the way they’ve executed and played they don’t deserve any joy,” Trapp said. “We’re going to keep coaching and lifting, we’re going to keep grinding. Hopefully we can find a win somewhere. Every week a quarterback has hurt us with his feet. Warren County did it, Upperman did it last week, their guy did it this week,” the coach commented.
“It was their wide receiver playing for their quarterback, Elijah Williams, and they brought in Heath Price. They didn’t do anything we didn’t practice for; it’s just getting things done correctly. At the beginning of the year we could talk positive about our special teams but after tonight it’s all chaos and the truth is the truth. I don’t like it, I don’t like what our fans have to see. It ultimately means they (the team) have to make a decision to help us out. We’ve got to make a decision to keep grinding on them and we’ll do that, but they have got to make the choice. It is what it is and right now it’s not good.”
DeKalb County will play host to Grundy County next Friday night, Sept. 15. Game time is 7 p.m. at VanHooser Field.

I think we actually regressed ... this was absolutely horrendous.~DCHS COACH STEVE TRAPP