The DeKalb County High School Tiger football team improved their record to 2-0 on the young season by beating the Watertown Purple Tigers, 31-14, Friday night in Watertown. The win snapped Watertown’s six-game win streak over DeKalb County, and was the Tigers’ first victory in Watertown since 1974.
Tiger quarterback, Hunter Poteete, threw for 258 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but had a couple of early interceptions, including one by Blaze Eaton that was returned 26 yards for a touchdown. Ryan Huffman’s extra point gave the Purple Tigers a 7-0 advantage with 6:20 on the clock in the first quarter.
DeKalb County recorded their first points on a safety, as linebacker Chris Odom dropped Purple Tiger quarterback, Dalton Phillips, in the end zone with 10:17 left in the second quarter, which trimmed the Watertown lead to 7-2. The Tigers got their first touchdown – and their first lead of the night – on a three-yard dash by Poteete into the end zone with 54 seconds left in the half. Poteete tossed the two-point conversion pass to J.J. Herriott, which gave DC a 10-7 lead.
Watertown re-claimed the lead on the opening drive of the second half, as the Purple Tigers marched 74 yards in 10 plays and scored on Ethan Patterson’s end around run to the end zone. Huffman added the PAT to give the hosts a 14-10 advantage. DeKalb County’s offense sputtered in the third quarter, as the Tigers failed to pick up a first down on their two drives of the quarter. The defense held its ground, however, and on DC’s first drive of the fourth quarter, Poteete and Herriott hooked up on a 79-yard touchdown pass, which gave the Tigers a 17-14 lead after Zach Taylor kicked the extra point. The defense stuffed the Purple Tigers again on the ensuing drive, and the Tigers marched right back down and scored again with 3:04 left in regulation on a nine-yard pass from Poteete to Travon Johnson. Taylor’s PAT gave DeKalb a 24-14 advantage.
After forcing a Watertown three-and-out, with just a little over a minute left in the game, the Tigers were looking to run some time off the clock when Matthew Lawrence broke free on a 23-yard touchdown run to put the victory on ice. Taylor kicked the final extra point, which put the eventual final score of 31-14 on the board.
Poteete completed 15 of his 27 pass attempts, and added 60 rushing yards on 22 carries. Lawrence ran the ball 10 times for 50 yards, as the Tigers totaled 110 ground yards and 368 yards of total offense. DC also had 138 return yards for a combined total of 506 all-purpose yards on the night. Herriott had 146 receiving yards and 125 return yards for the Tigers.
Watertown, meanwhile, was held to 175 yards of total offense. The Purple Tigers had 76 rushing yards, led by Blaze Eaton with 39 yards on nine carries. QB Dalton Phillips completed 9-of-24 passes for 60 yards.
DeKalb County will open the Region 4-3A portion of their schedule next Friday night, as the Greenbrier Bobcats come to Smithville. The Bobcats are 1-1 on the season, after losing to David Lipscomb, 42-3, on Friday. Kickoff of next Friday’s game will be at 7:30 p.m.
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