Their stumble out of the gate at Warren County is a distant memory as the DeKalb County Tigers are poised to host the opening round of the state playoffs at VanHooser Stadium provided they can beat winless Cumberland County this Friday night in Crossville. They’ve had a week to prepare for it as they took the week off this past Friday for bye.

The well-rested Tigers stand at 5-4 overall and 3-1 in the district, their record good enough to own second place behind only Livingston Academy who gave them a 31-0 trashing earlier this season for their only loss in Region 3 this season. However, it was their second half stand against Macon County last week that all but assured their playing host to the first round of the playoffs here Nov. 8. Their likely first round opponent is The Tullahoma Wildcats who need only beat a struggling Maplewood team this coming week to secure third place in their region. The 6-3 Wildcats are coming off a 49-28 blowout of Giles County this past week. Should Maplewood pull the upset over Tullahoma and DeKalb County hold serve at Crossville then it would be the Maplewood Panthers who come call to Smithville.

However, the Tigers must take care of business in Crossville this week to nail down their spot and not to possibly slip to third in the region. Cumberland County is yet to sniff victory as they are 0-9 with their only loss less than double digits coming against a hapless Sparta team, 30-21 early in the season. Most recently, comparing common opponents, Cumberland lost to cross town rival Stone Memorial 49-6, the same Stone team the Tigers thrashed 36-0 earlier this season. DeKalb made the playoffs last year by beating the Jets in the final game of the season, 42-0. Cumberland County hasn’t won a game, aside from a forfeit victory, since the final game of 2016 when they edged Chattanooga Central, 13-12 to avoid a winless season that year.

Kickoff is 7 p.m. this Friday at Cumberland County High School.