October 8, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
A trip to the Super Bowl!
The undefeated DeKalb County Junior Pro Football Pee Wee Tigers (ages 6-7) will be in Jamestown today (Saturday) to face the Fentress County Bulldogs hoping to bring back the Championship of the Middle Tennessee Youth Football Conference. Kick-Off of this Junior Pro “Super Bowl” Conference Classic will be at 10 a.m. at York Institute, 701 North Main Street, Jamestown.
The DeKalb Pee Wee Tigers (8-0) went undefeated during their six-game regular season and beat both of their play-off opponents to win the western division of the conference. Fentress County (5-3) won the eastern division.
Nathan Shepherd, DeKalb Pee Wee Tigers Head Coach, said this year’s team is loaded with many talented players.
“We can throw and run the ball. Throwing the ball is one of our secret weapons. You don’t expect a small team of 6 & 7 year olds to be able to throw the ball but it has helped us win some games. With smaller teams everybody usually blitzes and rushes in for the quarterback, fullback or halfback to stop the outside run but once they do that and crash in against us a receiver or tight end will go out for a pass and he will be wide open. Of course, our run game is very strong too,” said Coach Shepherd.
“Our quarterback is my son Gunner Shepherd and his throwing is awesome but he is a very strong runner too,” said Coach Shepherd. “We also have two good receivers that can catch really well, Ariann Wiggins and Kayden Hunt and they help make up our run game. Another player, Titus Stone can also catch and he made one of our first passing touchdowns this year but we moved him to the line because he is a critical asset to us there”.
“On defense Liam Key, a defensive tackle, is a leader for us and a real freight train. He can tear up anyone in front of him. I believe he stands about 5’1 or 5’ 2 and weighs 146 pounds and he is only 8 years old. He has a lot of fire in him,” Coach Shepherd continued.
During the regular season the DeKalb Junior Pro Pee Wee Tigers defeated the Overton County Outlaws 31-13, the Monterey Wildcats 26-20, the Junior Panthers of Stone Memorial 27-0, the White County Warriors 48-26, the Junior Jets of Cumberland County 31-0, and the Upperman Stingers 14-6. In the western conference playoffs the Pee Wee Tigers took down the White County Warriors 36-0 and the Upperman Stingers 14-7
The DeKalb County Junior Pro Football Program is made up of three age groups of players, the Pee Wee Tigers, Junior Tigers, and Senior Tigers and they compete as part of the Middle Tennessee Youth Football Conference which has an east and west division. The Junior and Senior Tigers have already completed their seasons for this year.
Coach Shepherd is assisted in coaching by Brent Collier, Cole Parsley, Cody Atnip, Will Key, and Jeremy Ashburn.
Members of the DeKalb Pee Wee Tigers are Arian Wiggins, Baylin Wiggins, Camden Grandstaff, Gunner Shepherd, Wesley Bowen, Kayden Hunt, Rhett Davis, Sandler Sutton, Braxton Poss, Colton Hutchings, Alejandro Bravo, Easton Hoke, Titus Stone, Lincoln Holmes, Maddux Hale, Haven Patterson, Kohen Skinner, Jeb Culwell, Grayson Neal, Thomas Brelje, Knox Bowen, Liam Key, Xavier Billings, Rusty Chapman, Marsed Caldwell, Payton Bullard, Brody Odom, Nolan Martin, Liam Taylor, Landon Collier, Liam Collier, Raylin Ashburn, Dyllan Bates, Bentlee Shepherd, Tucker Stanfield, and Conner Redmon.
Tim Wilson, President of the DeKalb Junior Pro Football League, said the success of this program is due to the commitment of the coaches and players
“They put in some phenomenal work at practice,” said Wilson. “I talked to a parent the other day who said he was very impressed with the skill set that these kids have at this age. He said it blew my mind. I said that’s why we are undefeated. They put in the work and it shows on the field,” said Wilson.
Coach Shepherd said he feels optimistic about the outcome of today’s title game.
“This is a team (Fentress County) we haven’t played this year. We played them last year our very first game and we beat them but it may be a very different team this year. Still, I believe we will come back with a championship ring,” he said.