Smith County traveled to Smithville Friday night for a regional match up against the DeKalb County Tigers. The Owls found themselves 0-1 in regional standings after a tough loss to Sequatchie County in week 3, a win against DeKalb would be a huge boost for Coach Dickerson’s squad towards the playoff hunt though early in the season.
The game opened with Smith County kicking off to the home Tigers via a boot out-of-bounds to the DeKalb 35 yard line by Ethan Elliott. DeKalb’s first drive was put to an abrupt halt when Bryant Goolsbly picked off a pass from Tiger quarterback Jennings on their second play of the game. The Owls offense took over, and put Dusten Holder to work on the ground right away. After 4 runs netting 2 first downs, Holder was injured on a tackle at the visiting sideline that would knock him out of the game. Holder would not return to see further action due to a concussion injury on the play. The drive concluded when Carson Hackett threw a 5 yard touchdown pass to Keith Morris with 9:02 left in the first period to put the Owls on the scoreboard first. Following a PAT from Elliott, the Owls led 7-0.
The ensuing Tiger drive showed the Smith County defense a good mix of runs and passes. However, the Owls defense responded well, and nearly had a second pick off from Jennings’ pass from Matthew Rutherford to force a Tiger punt. In subsequent drives, neither team was able to get much going offensively resulting in 3 and outs. DeKalb’s next drive would net 3 first downs thanks to solid play from Jennings; putting them in excellent position to tie the game early in the 2nd period. Jennings struck with a 14 yard touchdown pass to Christian Pruitt, but the play was waved off due to a Tiger penalty. Another completed pass and yet another Tiger penalty set up the second defensive takeaway for the Owls, thanks to an interception from Shermar King at the Owl 1 yard line.
Starting deep in their own territory, the black and gold line did a nice job opening holes for the SC backs who rushed for 2 consecutive first downs to gain some breathing room. Following a costly penalty, the Owls found themselves in a punting situation once again. Following the Goolsby punt, DeKalb wasted little time getting the ball back into Owl territory and after 2 first downs and just 7 plays, they put their first score of the night on the board via a quarterback keeper from Jennings scoring from the 1 yard line. With 2:35 remaining in the half, the Tigers had tied the game up at 7-7.
After experiencing good success on the ground, the Owl offense took to the air in their next drive with 3 consecutive pass completions for consecutive first downs. Hackett connected first with a nice 10 yard strike to King. Then, 2 straight completions to Cameron Huff took the Owls all the way down to the DeKalb 20 yard line. On the very next play, Hackett put the second Owl score on the board via a quarterback keeper. Following a failed PAT, the scoreboard read 13-7 Smith County.
The momentum looked to be swaying in the Owls favor. Unfortunately, this turned out to be short-lived as DeKalb’s offense wasted little time getting back to business. In just 3 plays, the tigers struck with a 52 yard pass across the middle for their second score of the half. After a successful PAT, the Tigers lead over the Owls 14-13 with just 49 seconds remaining. The Owls offense took the field following the kickoff, and a 5 yard Dekalb penalty at the Tiger 45 yard line. After a pass completion from Hackett to Huff and a first down run from Goolsby, the Owls setup for a field goal attempt with :04 seconds left in the half. Ethan Elliott drilled a 42 yard field goal, setting the Smith County crowd alight to close the half with the Owls on top, 16-14.
The second half would start with a HUGE play from Jon Micheal Donnell returning the Tiger kickoff all the way to the house from deep in Owl territory. The Owl extra point kicking struggles continue with a blocked PAT resulting in a score of Owls 22 – Tigers 14. Just as the game seemed to be coming in to the hands of Smith County, DeKalb once again wasted little time and got to work in leveling the score. Five plays later, topped off by a quarterback keeper from Jennings 3 minutes into the 3rd quarter and a successful PAT, DeKalb County tied it up at 22.
The Owl offense was unable to get much going on the following offensive effort and the drive ended with a punt after one first down on a Goolsby rush. DeKalb took over at the Owl 49 and were able to net 4 first downs on the drive, ending with a score again with a mixture of rushing and passing plays. At 2:20 remaining in the 3rd quarter, the Tigers took the lead, 28-22 via an untouched rush from the 2 yard line. Smith County ended the 3rd quarter with a 2 first down drive that once again ended with a punt ending with two consecutive incompletions. The Owl defense held the subsequent DeKalb drive to a 3 and out. With an opportunity to even things up, the Owls turned the ball over via a King fumble on a miffed hand off exchange from Hackett at the Owl 48. What followed was a drastic turn of events as DeKalb struck on their first play from scrimmage with Jennings scoring on a 52 yard quarterback keeper to pour salt in the Owl’s wounds. At 8:56 following a successful DeKalb PAT, the score put the Owls down by two scores, 36-22.
Feeling as if the game was starting to slip away, the Smith County offense put the game into Hackett’s hands. He was able to successfully run the ball, and make key completions to the receiving arsenal. Following Hackett’s completions to King and Kemp, along with solid running from Goolsby, the Owls gained 5 first downs moving the ball deep into Tiger territory. Thanks to a 4th down conversion on a Hackett/King completion, the drive stayed alive and ultimately resulted in a Hackett run from inside the 1 yard line with 2:40 remaining; a successful PAT by Elliot brought the Owls within one score, Owls 29 – Tigers 36.
Expecting an on-side kick, the Owls instead elected to kick the ball off where it was fielded by the Tigers at their own 30. After a quarterback keeper and 2 running plays, Owl’s Tyler Harris came up with a monster play, a fumble recovery at the 45. Following the recovery, the Harris run after set Smith County up first and 10 at the Tiger 24 yard line. The Smith County crowd went crazy, with just :58 remaining, the Owls looked poised to possibly tie it up. Hackett came out throwing the ball as time was of the essence, his first pass to King fell incomplete however his second was a quick out to the right side to Kemp placing the ball at the DeKalb 22. With 45.4 seconds remaining, the Owl’s coaching staff called a timeout to talk things over. Hackett lined the offense up in the gun poised to put the ball in the air on a 3rd and 8. Hackett’s pass was subsequently intercepted by the Tigers where they proceeded to take over and allow the clock to expire. Final score Smith County Owls 29 – DeKalb County Tigers 36.
The Owls are 0-2 in regional play and 3-2 overall going in to next week’s match up against Stone Memorial at home.
