The DeKalb Tigers went into Friday's matchup with the Yellow Jackets seeking their first win of the season and they found it as they dominated on both sides of the ball defeating Grundy County 27-7 at VanHooser Field.
Despite losing starting QB Tyler Cantrell to injury in the second quarter the Tigers rallied around freshman backup Axel Adino.
"When our quarterback got injured we had to do a lot of stuff differently as far as mentally thinking for me as the offensive coordinator," said head coach Steve Trapp. "We didn’t want to put him in situations that were so overwhelming that he couldn't perform. Then it was just talking to the other guys to rise up and take care of TC who is injured and Aldino as a freshman. I think the team around him rose up and got inspired but then he definitely made some plays for us as well."
We're working on our Q run-reads and when we had a chance to keep it a couple times it makes them more honest and he picked up some third down conversions which we've been struggling with on both sides of the ball. He picked up four of five of them. We got five turnovers instead of turning it over."
"After we had the lead at the half we just wanted to emphasize good snaps, good handoffs and fall on the ball to manage the game in that regard but when there was an opportunity to make a play he did it. Now we just have to see where TC is at and go from there," said Trapp.
DeKalb (1-4) scored first after Nick May picked off a pass setting up a Tiger scoring opportunity on the Jackets 18-yard line. Cantrell got it close with a keeper and David Bradford found the third time's a charm as he took it into the end zone on a third-and-goal situation. The PAT attempt was no good and DeKalb had a 6-0 lead with 4:30 left in the first quarter.
Grundy got in trouble on its next drive, moving back to its own 12-yard line after a holding call made it a first-and-20. Grundy's QB Hagen Cash had to retreat into the end zone to avoid the Tiger rush and got rid of the ball before being sacked. He was called for intentional grounding and DeKalb tacked on a safety for the 8-0 lead with 3:46 left in the first.
On the ensuing kickoff, DeKalb's Paxton Butler almost went all the way, bringing the return back to the Jackets 28-yard line. On first-and-10 Tyler Cantrell found Bradley Miller who added another 6 to the Tigers' 14-0 lead with 3:27 left to play. The PAT attempt was unsuccessful.
Grundy struck pay dirt on its next set of downs. A big run off the keeper by Cash set up the Jackets for Cash to find Evan Nunley for a 24-yard TD pass. The PAT by Ethan Chouinard was good and Grundy closed the gap to 14-7 with 1:35 remaining in the first.
DeKalb had to punt on its next set of downs, but held the line defensively when Tiger Isaac Cross hammered Cash in the backfield leading to a punt on fourth down by Grundy.
Picking up a holding call on the third-quarter drive, DeKalb put Fuson on the field to attempt a 37-yard field goal and he split the uprights to extend DeKalb's lead to 17-7 with 4:58 remaining in the half.
The Tiger defense prevailed again on Grundy's next possession as they stripped and recovered the ball giving Fuson another shot at a field goal. This time he converted an 18-yard kick to close out the first half with the Tigers up by 13 points, leading 20-7.
Coming back after the half, the Tigers recovered a Grundy fumble and Tiger RB David Bradford moved the ball downfield. Aldino connected with Butler and Bradley Miller plus used the keeper to get the ball into field goal range but the attempt was unsuccessful.
DeKalb's Isaac Knowles picked off Cash's pass with 7:53 left in the fourth quarter but the Tigers couldn't capitalize and punted it away.
Grundy then went four-and-out turning it over on downs and the Tigers took the opportunity to tack on one more TD with a keeper by Aldino and a good PAT by Fuson for the final score, 27-7.
DeKalb County will play host to Cannon County for Homecoming Friday night, Sept. 22. Game time is 7 p.m.