August 28, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
After scoring three touchdowns and shutting out Smith County in the first half, the DeKalb County Tigers held off the Owls in the second half to notch a 33-14 win before a home crowd on the opening night of the 2021 football season Friday evening.
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The Tigers (1-0) will now gear up for their first region matchup of the year at Macon County (2-0) on Friday, September 3. Kick-Off will be at 7 p.m. Macon County has defeated East Robertson 34-12 and Westmoreland 14-6. Smith County is 0-2 with losses to Gordonsville 14-0 and DeKalb County 33-14.
The first of DC’s three scores in the first half came with 9:07 left in the opening period as Colby Barnes found the endzone on a 3 yard TD run capping a 53 yard Tiger drive. The PAT attempt failed but DeKalb County took an early 6-0 lead.
Isaac Knowles later scored on a 67 yard punt return followed by a successful extra point kick by Axel Aranda to put the Tigers up 13-0 with 7:28 left in the 1st period.
Diego Coronado took it in from 1 yard out with 9:50 left in the 2nd period capping an 80 yard Tiger drive and following another successful PAT by Axel Aranda, DeKalb County led 20-0.
Smith County scored twice in the second half. The first came on a 15 yard touchdown run by Bryce Currie completing a 47 yard drive with 5:55 left in the 3rd period. Javier Gasper added the extra point and the Owls cut the Tiger lead to 20-7.
Smith County’s Kylan Johnson then scored on a 25 yard run with 9:51 left in the 4th period capping a 71 yard drive. Gasper tacked on the extra point and the Owls trailed 20-14.
The Tiger offense then got hot again. After setting up DC at the Smith County 30 yard line on a kick-off return, Isaac Knowles caught a 30 yard touchdown pass from Quarterback Briz Trapp with 7:56 left in the 4th period. A two point conversion attempt failed but the Tigers extended their lead to 26-14.
The final score of the game came on a 4 yard TD run by Colby Barnes with 3:42 left in the 4th period. Aranda added the extra point and the Tigers won 33-14.