October 4, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb County Tigers find themselves in a unique situation tonight in trying to bounce back from a loss when they pay a call on the Macon County Tigers at Lafayette.
Last week, the Tigers (5-1) dropped their first game of the season 31-15 to the Stone Memorial Panthers while Macon County (4-2) lost to White County 34-18. For the Tigers, it was their first Region loss (1-1). For Macon County, it was their second defeat (1-2) which adds significance to tonight’s showdown between these two region foes.
“Its going to be two hungry football teams,” said Tiger Coach Steve Trapp. “If that one little sandwich is on the table who is going to fight the hardest to get it? That’s the same situation we talked about last week. Stone Memorial was in a rough spot already down a game. The region is tough from here on out especially for us and what (opponents) we have left so its on the table for us to take care of business but we have to do it ourselves. We can’t rely on somebody else winning or losing the way its shaping up. It amounts to who is starving and who will do what it takes to fight all the way to the end,” said Coach Trapp.
In the loss to Stone Memorial, Coach Trapp said the Tigers made miscues uncharacteristic for this team.
“We made some mistakes we had not seen all year especially offensively but defensively as well but we hung in there and battled. We like playing complimentary football but we weren’t moving the chains and getting first downs. We were very inefficient. There were not a lot of third down conversions. We had some turnovers and some bad snaps and dropped snaps. We just did not overcome our mistakes. I felt like we did not play the same way we had started the season and its very unfortunate with the results we had,” said Coach Trapp.
The Tigers have beaten Warren County 28-14, Smith County 35-6, Livingston Academy 42-8, Watertown 45-27, and Gordonsville 35-21. Their one loss has been to Stone Memorial 31-15.
Macon County has defeated Westmoreland 31-7, Trousdale County 42-0, Smith County 49-6, and Cumberland County 35-7. Losses have been to Upperman 35-34 and to White County 34-18.
DeKalb County Football games remaining on the schedule:
October 11: Cumberland County* (AWAY) 7:00 p.m.
October 18: BYE
October 25: White County* (HOME) 7:00 p.m.
October 31 (Thursday): Upperman* (HOME) 7:00 p.m.
Class 4A Region 4 Records:
Upperman: 6-0 (4-0)
Stone Memorial: 4-2 (2-1)
White County: 4-2 (2-1)
DeKalb County: 5-1 (1-1)
Macon County: 4-2 (1-2)
Livingston Academy: 3-3 (0-2)
Cumberland County: 2-4 (0-3)
WJLE’s Pre-Game shows begin with “Coach to Coach” at 5:00 p.m. to repeat Saturday morning at 9 a.m. featuring former UT assistant coach Doug Matthews with Tennessee Titans Radio Broadcaster Dave McGinnis and broadcaster Larry Stone talking Tennessee and SEC football.
Coach to Coach is followed by Murphy’s Matchups at 6:00 p.m., a look at Tennessee High School Football from Murphy Fair with commentary on games and coaches’ interviews.
“Tiger Talk” airs at 6:30 p.m. with the Voice of the Tigers John Pryor interviewing Coach Steve Trapp and Tiger football players Jordan Parker, Jon Hendrix, and Bryson Arnold.
Kick-off is at 7:00 p.m. with play-by-play coverage on WJLE from the Voice of the Tigers John Pryor. Listen LIVE on WJLE AM 1480/FM 101.7 and LIVE Streaming at www.wjle.com.