Friday night lights were back on in DeKalb County last week as the DCHS Tigers took on the Spring Hill Raiders in the first round of the TSSAA football playoffs. The home crowd was out in force for the match that also served as a belated Senior Night for DCHS.

In a game that at first looked to be yet another victim of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Tigers got out to a slow start. After being sidelined for their last regularly scheduled home game against Cumberland County, due to a coronavirus diagnosis amongst one of the Junior Varsity players, the Tigers were unable to hold practice for the playoffs until cleared by contact tracing. The lag of practice showed early in the game.

DeKalb won the toss and deferred until the second half. The Raiders would return the kickoff up to the DeKalb 45, but a strong defense held Spring Hill to a three and out, with the Raiders actually losing four yards on the drive.

On the punt, Spring Hill backed the Tigers up, all the way back to the one yard line, then an off sides penalty gave them some breathing room. But, on the next play, Tigers Quarterback Axel Aldino was caught in the end zone for a safety. With 9:23 left in the first quarter, the Raiders were up, 2-0.

With the safety, the Tigers would have to kickoff to Spring Hill, and once again the Raiders returned back to the DeKalb 46, but a block in the back call put the ball back at the Spring Hill 39. A holding penalty on the next play, backed the Raiders back 10 more. Again, the Tigers' D-line stepped up, holding Spring Hill to a three and out, with them only gaining 12 of the yards back.

The Tigers would get much better field position after the punt, returning the ball to their own 27, but mistakes would doom the drive. Aldino called his own number on the first play, taking the ball to the 32, but a pass to Isaac Knowles on the next play fell incomplete. Then, a bad snap went over Aldino's head all the way back to the 8-yard line. It would be a theme for the night.

The Raiders returned the punt back to DeKalb 45, and looked to put more points on the board. A run by Dante Prowell gave Spring Hill a first down at the 30, then another run was good to the 28. After a pass fell incomplete, another run by Mac Richie was only good to the 25. On a fourth and 5, a run by Kaiden Martin went deep into Tiger territory, but a block in the back called the play back and set up a fourth and 10 from the 30. From there, QB Luka Boylan connected with Jaylen Rucker for a touchdown. With the extra point kick, the Raiders were up 9-0 with 5:55 left in the first quarter.

The Tigers began their next possession at their own 20, and finally got into the game. On the first play, Aldino dealt with another high snap, but was able to connect a pass to Desmond Nokes for a 30 yard gain. With the ball on the 50, another high snap went over Aldino's head and he was downed back at the 32, but on a second and 18, Aldino threw a beautiful pass to Nokes, all the way to the Raider 13. A keeper took the ball to the 11 on the next play, then a pass to Nathaniel Crook was good for six. The Jasper Klaparek extra point was good, and DeKalb was on the board, 9-7, with 4:15 left in the first quarter.

The Raiders started their next drive back at their own 18, but again the Tigers' defense stepped up. Spring Hill would gain only nine yards before having to punt.

The punt would go out of bounds at the DeKalb 40, and from there the Tigers looked to take the lead. After a Colby Barnes to the 48, Barnes was given the ball again, this time down to the Raider 30. From there, an Aldino keeper was good to the six yard line, then another was good to the two as the first quarter came to an end. On the next play, Aldino strolled into the end zone for a touchdown. Klaparek's kick was good, and the Tigers took a 14-9 lead with 11:53 left in the half.

The kickoff gave the Raiders the ball at their own 17, and they would only get one first down before having to punt from their own 39.

The Tigers next drive started at the 22, but they would only get to the 31 before they would be forced to punt.

Spring Hill threatened to retake the lead on their next drive, taking the ball deep into Tiger territory. Starting at their own 30, the Raiders mounted a ground attack, with runs by Richie and Prowell taking the ball down to the DeKalb 23. A couple of runs by Martin gave them a first down at the DeKalb 13. Two more carries netted only two yards, then a pass play fell incomplete. Facing a fourth and 8, from the 11, the Raiders set up for a field goal attempt, but an off sides penalty by DeKalb gave them the ball at the 6 and Spring Hill decided to go for it. A Prowell run fell at the 3-yard line. The chains were brought in and the Raiders were short by a foot. DeKalb took over on downs with 1:35 left in the half.

Nerves were on edge as the Tigers again started backed up against the end zone, but a Nokes run gave them some breathing room down to the 16. It was none too soon as the next play again saw a high snap, over Aldino's head back to the 11. Unfazed, Aldino connected a pass to Travante Alexander on the next play, down to the 25, then a Barnes run was good to the 33. There, the drive looked like it might stall after a pass to Alexander and then to Nokes fell incomplete. On a third and 10, Aldino found Alexander for a long pass play down to the one yard line, with 36 seconds left in the half. The next play, Aldino ran it in himself. With the Klaparek extra point, DeKalb was up. 21-9, with 10 seconds left in the half.

Both teams would go three and out on their first possessions of the second half, and DeKalb would continue to be plagued by bad snaps. The Tigers would start their second possession of the half at their own 44, but would quickly move to the Raider 40. There, yet another high snap resulted in Aldino falling on the ball back at the DeKalb 36. From there, another high snap, on a third and 33 play, caused another two-yard loss. The Tigers would punt, giving the raiders the ball at their own 49.

Once again it was the Tiger D-line stepping up in the game. A sack backed the Raiders up to their own 44, then a running play netted only one yard. The next play, a pass to Rucker, was intercepted by Knowles, back at the DeKalb 25.

The Tigers' good fortune was squandered however, after penalties and another high snap doomed the drive. Facing a fourth and 8 at the 27, DeKalb would punt.

The Raiders started at their own 20, but after a holding penalty, the Tigers defense held them to a three and out.

DeKalb started at their own 41, and again looked to stretch their lead. A keeper took the ball to the 49, then a Barnes run was good down to the Raider 18. As the fourth quarter began, Aldino ran the ball for five more, then Barnes took it to the eight, but a Raider penalty gave DeKalb the ball at the four. The next play, Barnes was in for the touchdown. With the extra point, the Tigers were up, 28-9, with 10:57 left in the game.

On the kickoff, the Raiders began at their own 35, but just two plays later Aldino intercepted the ball, giving the Tigers the ball at the DeKalb 45. Six plays later the Tigers would face a first and goal from the 8, but that's where the drive would stall. Facing a fourth and goal from the 3, Klaparek was brought in for the field goal. DeKalb was up, 31-9, with 5:50 left to play.

The Raiders began their next drive at their own 40, but desperation held them to the air game. They would net only two yards before going for it on fourth down. The pass fell incomplete and DeKalb took over on downs.

It would be all Barnes for the Tigers' drive. He was handed the ball eight times, taking it all the way down to the Raider 3-yard line. There, it was Aldino with the keeper for the touchdown.  With just 32 seconds left to play, the Tigers were up 38-9.

The Raiders would get the ball on the kickoff at their own 29, where Landen Secrest ran it in for a touchdown as the time on the clock ran out. It was too little, too late. DeKalb would take the 38-15 victory.

After the game Head Coach Steve Trapp addressed some of the mistakes the Tigers had during the game. "You know it's been a rollercoaster kind of couple of weeks. We haven't played in a couple of weeks, one week we couldn't practice and we only got one practice in one week. It was kind of like coming into the first game of the year. The snap issues, that will be fixed."

"Kudos to our defense," Coach Trapp continued. "To have those types of plays offensively, and lose those types of yards, for those guys to continue to force them to punt and give our offense the ball back, we had some guys make some big time plays. What I was really excited to see was in the fourth quarter, our offensive line and our two running backs working to ice the game. That was really nice to see."

DeKalb (7-3) will host Nolensville (6-3) in the second round of the playoffs, at home next Friday night, November 13.