Juniors Fall in Semifinal, Will Play Fentress Co. in Consolation

For only the second time this season, the Junior Tigers found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard, falling to the Smith County Owls 19-0 in the semi-final round of the Middle Tennessee Youth Football Conference playoffs Saturday in Livingston.

Alex Lemons gets around an Owl defender Saturday.

The quick, well prepared Owl Defense swarmed the Tigers all game long, continually frustrating Tiger quarterback Briz Trapp and the DeKalb Offense.  While the Tigers were able to move the ball in the first half somewhat, Smith County adjusted well in the second, allowing the Owl Offense to find its rhythm and go on a scoring streak, reaching the end zone 3 times in the third and fourth quarters.

The Black and Gold Defense played well in the first half, pitching a shutout throughout the first and second quarters.  Tiger Defensive Tackle, Luke Midgett disrupted the Owl rushing attack on Smith County’s first drive of the game, recovering a fumble to set the Tiger Offense up in good position.  The Tiger offense would drive downfield behind huge runs by Konner Young and Conner Close and would eventually march all the way down to the Owl 8 yard line before the Smith County Defense stiffened, forcing the Tigers to turn the ball over on downs.

Konner Young rushed for 50 yards Saturday.

Unfortunately, the Tigers would never again find themselves so close to the promised land.

After getting the Tigers down in the second half, Smith County was able to tee off on Trapp and the usually sure handed Tiger receivers were unable to haul in Trapp’s passes in the second half, further frustrating the Tiger Offensive effort and exhausting the Tiger Defense.

While the loss means the Tigers will not have the chance to defend it’s conference title, DeKalb will still get one more game this season, and will battle Fentress County for third place at 11:30 this Saturday, again in Livingston.

Conner Close played well on offense and defense for the Tigers Saturday.

For the game, Briz Trapp was 2 of 13 for 27 yards passing in the game.  Tailback, Konner Young led the team on the ground, rushing 10 times for 50 yards in the game.  Conner Close ended the game with 38 yards rushing on 4 attempts.  Close and Mason Winter each had a catch in the game, with Winter gaining 17 yards and Close gaining 10.

Defensively, Close led the team in tackles with 5, while Stetson Agee and Konner Young each had 4.  7 Tigers, Gabe Hollingsworth, Alex Lemons, Trey Crabtree, Luke Midgett, Kaleb Spears, Mason Winter and Ryan Thompson each had one tackle in the contest.

Mason Winter ran hard for the Tigers Saturday.

Quarterback Briz Trapp looks for some room to run in Saturday’s game vs. Smith Co.

Gabe Hollingsworth chases down an Owl Saturday.