The DeKalb County High School Tiger football team put their first loss of the season behind them Friday night, as they crushed the Cannon County Lions, 63-20, in Woodbury. The 63 points tied a team record for the most points scored in a game. The 1973 Tigers scored the same amount of points in a 63-0 defeat of Red Boiling Springs.
DeKalb stormed out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter, as Hunter Poteete threw touchdown passes to J.J. Herriott (14 yards) and Hunter Stewart (12 yards), while Abram Edwards returned a fumble 63 yards for the third Tiger score. Zach Taylor hit two of his first three extra point attempts, as DC took the three-score advantage at the end of the quarter.
The Lions stormed back on a pair of second quarter touchdowns. Quarterback Josh Seng hooked up with Andrew Woodin on a 27-yard touchdown pass for the first Cannon County score, and Melvin Young reeled off a 28-yard run for the team’s second score. Kevin Walkup connected on the first extra point attempt, but had the second one blocked, which made the score 20-13 in favor of the Tigers with 2:28 to go until halftime.
The Tigers used only 1:08 on the clock to collect their next score, as Poteete swiftly moved the team 70 yards in five plays, capped off by his five-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Lawrence. Poteete then found Abram Edwards on a deflected pass for the two-point conversion, which pushed the Tiger lead to 28-13.
With just 1:09 left in the half, Cannon County was able to pick up a first down on the ensuing drive, but did little else and was forced to punt. DeKalb took the ball at the 34-yard-line, and Poteete called his own number on a quarterback draw, which led to a 66-yard burst to the end zone with just 5.5 seconds left until the intermission. Taylor booted the PAT, which gave DC a 35-13 edge at the half.
The Tigers continued to pour it on in the second half, as Lawrence capped off the opening drive with a three-yard touchdown run. Travon Johnson ended the ensuing Lion drive with an interception return for a touchdown, which covered 66 yards. Taylor’s PAT kicks gave DC a 49-13 lead with 6:28 to go in the third quarter.
Young broke loose for his second rushing touchdown on the ensuing Cannon County drive, as the senior darted 38 yards to paydirt, which made the score 49-20 after Walkup’s extra point. DeKalb marched right back down the field, however, and scored again, this time on a 17-yard pass from Poteete to Herriott, which widened the margin to 56-20, with 1:05 remaining in the third.
With the mercy rule invoked, the clock ran continuously in the fourth quarter. DeKalb County added one more score on a four-yard run by Kevin Kijanski, which put up the final margin of 63-20 after Taylor’s point after kick.
The DeKalb County Tigers improve to 4-1 on the season, and will travel to Pearl-Cohn for a Region showdown, next Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
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