Juniors handed first loss, fall to Panthers, 13-0

A rare event occurred Saturday in Smithville, the Junior Tigers lost.

In what conceivably could be the preview of the championship game at the end of the season, the Crossville Panthers scored the first strike, defeating the Tigers 13-0 to take sole possession of first place in the league.

Tiger Konner Young, carries a Panther defender in Saturday’s game vs. Crossville.

The game was a defensive struggle in the first half, as neither team found the end zone until after the break.  At one point, Crossville drove all the way down to the DeKalb 2 yard line, but the mighty Tiger Defense bowed its back and turned Crossville away on 4 consecutive tries to cross into the end zone.

Crossville would get the ball first in the second half though, and would need only two plays to race 55 yards downfield, to strike first blood.  The Panther extra point attempt would be successful and the Panthers led, 7-0.

Unfortunately for DeKalb, that would be all they would need.

After stopping DeKalb on the Tigers’ ensuing possession, Crossville would again drive downfield 53 yards in 6 plays to score again and expand their lead to 13-0.

Facing the biggest front DeKalb had seen all season, the Tigers could never sustain consistency on offense and were forced to do things they rarely have had to do this season…punt and convert 4th downs.

With the loss, DeKalb falls to 4-1 on the season and takes sole possession of 2nd place.

The Tigers will rest from action this week before facing super-rival Smith County on the 26th at home, the winner most likely vying for either 1st or 2nd place in the standings.  Game time will be 10:30