School Board Appreciation Week January 23-29

January 23, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

This is School Board Appreciation Week in Tennessee, and the DeKalb County School District is joining others from across the state to celebrate and honor local board members for their commitment to DeKalb County and its children.

The theme “Building the Future” reminds everyone to celebrate the unique role school boards play in building a future for their students, championing and advocating for quality education, and governing their local public schools. As the elected representatives of the people in their local communities, they represent their local communities’ voice and vision for the future of their public schools.

“It takes strong schools to build a strong community, and these men and women devote countless hours to making sure our schools are helping every child learn at a higher level, “said Director of Schools Patrick Cripps.

“The school board’s main goal is to support student achievement”, Director Cripps added.

To achieve that goal, the board focuses on the following needs:

• Creating a vision for what the community wants the school district to be and for making student achievement the top priority;

• Setting the direction of the school district to achieve the highest student performance;

• Ensuring progress is measured to be sure the district’s goals are achieved and students are learning at expected levels;

• Supporting a healthy and safe school district culture in which to work and to learn;

• Forming partnerships with others in the community to solve common problems; and

• Focusing on continuous improvement by questioning, examining, revising, refining, and revisiting issues related to student achievement.

“Even though we are making a special effort during the last week of January to show appreciation for our school board members, we recognize their contributions reflect a year-round effort on their part,” Director Cripps said.

School Board members serving DeKalb County are Danny Parkerson, Alan Hayes, Jim Beshearse, Kate Miller, Jamie Cripps, Jason Miller, and Shaun Tubbs.

January 23, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Senior Isaac Knowles, a future Tennessee Tech University Golden Eagle, was named Most Valuable Player of the 2021 DCHS Tiger Football Team during the annual Awards Banquet held Saturday night at the Smithville First Baptist Church Life Enrichment Center building. Meanwhile Addison Puckett, a senior received the Most Valuable Football Cheerleader Award.

The trophies, sponsored by Liberty State Bank, were presented to Knowles and Puckett respectively by Tiger Football Coach Steve Trapp and Cheer Coach Amanda Fuller.

Knowles, a standout on offense as a receiver, runner, and quarterback, and on defense was a key factor in the Tigers success in 2021 as the team completed a 7-5 season and advanced to the second round of the state playoffs before losing to Upperman at Baxter in November.

“Isaac has set a standard for the record books at DeKalb County High School football. He has also set a standard for the type of young man he is and has been an example for these guys who are playing behind him to live up to that standard. Isaac has left a great legacy here and as of this morning (Saturday) he will be a Tennessee Tech Golden Eagle next year,” said Tiger Coach Steve Trapp.

During his four-year career at DCHS, Knowles started and played in 47 football games, the most ever by any Tiger in school history.

Knowles’ statistics for the 2021 season are as follows:

*Rushing: 104 carries, 882 yards, 15 Touchdowns- 8.5 yards per carry

*Receiving: 72 receptions, 1030 yards, 6 TD – 15.2 yards per catch, 103 yards per game

*Passing: 7 of 13, 155 yards, 2 TD, 0 Interceptions

Knowles scored 23 total touchdowns and on four two-point conversions, and led the team with 146 total points scored, which is an average of 12.2 points per game.

*Defense: 47 solo tackles, 42 assists, three special teams tackles, three tackles for loss, seven interceptions, five forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one blocked punt/field goal, one defensive touchdown.

*Special Teams: He had 30 kick/punt returns for 644 yards and one touchdown, an average of 21.4 yards per return.

*All-Purpose Yards: 2,556

Knowles was named the Region 4-4A Offensive Player of the Year, named to the Tennessee Football Coaches’ Association’s All-State Team, and selected to play in the East-West All-Star Classic at Austin Peay.

For his four-year high school career, Knowles compiled the following statistics:

*Career Receiving- 154 total receptions for 2,308 yards and 15 touchdowns in 47 games.

*Career Returns- 80 total returns for 1,388 yards and 2 touchdowns

*Career Rushing- 109 total carries for 893 yards and 15 touchdowns

*Career Passing- 7 completions of 13 attempts for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns

“On defense Isaac had over 300 tackles in his career with 18 career interceptions and I am pretty sure that is a (DCHS) career record,” said Coach Trapp.

Knowles’ other high school career awards and honors include the following:

*4 Time All Region 1st Team 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
*2 Time 4A All State 2020 and 2021
*2 Time 4A All Region Most Outstanding Defensive Back 2019 and 2020
*2021 All Region Offensive MVP
*2018 Team Voted Defensive Player of the Year
*2019 and 2020 Team Voted Defensive Back of the Year
*FirstBank Player of the Week-November 2020
*2021 DTC Player of the Year
*2021 DTC All Star Team
*2021 TACA All Star Game Participant
*2021 Blue Gray Game Selection
*2021 Team Captain

Meanwhile senior Isaiah Harrington was announced as the winner of the Coach Clay Edwards Memorial Tiger Pride Award. Harrington was unable to attend the banquet, but members of Edwards’ family were on hand for the occasion including Abram Edwards and Sarah Rathbone, son and daughter, and their mother Tena Edwards-Jacobs. Harrington also received the Defensive Player of the Year Award and was named the Region 4, Class 4A Most Outstanding Linebacker.

In presenting the MVC Award, Cheer Coach Amanda Fuller talked about Puckett’s’ determination and the example she set for her fellow cheerleaders.

“This award is chosen by the cheerleaders and is given to the one who shows exceptional value to the team in all areas. Addison is not just someone with great talent and has been a great friend and leader, she is a fantastic role model and leads by example. She put so much pressure on herself to make sure she knew the material and worked as hard or harder than others. She wanted to please everyone and made sure she was a person others could look up to. When I look up other words for valuable, I find words like worthy, helpful, appreciated, cherished, treasured, respected, and admired. To me Addison has been all of those this year,” said Coach Fuller.

Other individual Football Player Awards are as follows:

Offensive Player of the Year- Colby Barnes
Offensive Lineman- Diego Coronado
Offensive Back- Nathaniel Crook
Receiver- John Ellis
Defensive Player of the Year- Isaiah Harrington
Defensive Lineman- Wil Farris
Linebacker- Tyler Estes
Defensive Back- Brady Hale
Special Teams Player- Nolan Gottlied
Most Improved-Shadie Rankhorn
MVP- Isaac Knowles
Coach Clay Edwards Memorial Tiger Pride Award-Isaiah Harrington
Scout Team Player of the Year: Jonathan Garcia
Newcomer of the Year: Ty Webb

Ten DCHS Football players earned 2021 All-Region honors including Tiger Senior Isaac Knowles who was named the Offensive Most Valuable Player in Region 4, Class 4A. Knowles was joined by Isaiah Harrington, the region’s Most Outstanding Linebacker; Colby Barnes-Most Outstanding Defensive Lineman; and Diego Coronado-Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman.

All Region 1st Team from DeKalb County: Tyler Estes, Brady Hale, Silas Cross, and Wil Farris
All Region 2nd Team from DeKalb County: Ean Jones and Shadie Rankhorn.

DTC Player of the Year- Isaac Knowles
DTC All Star Team members- Isaac Knowles, Diego Coronado, Brady Hale, and Isaiah Harrington

Individual Cheer Awards are as follows:
Most Valuable Cheerleader- Addison Puckett
Most Spirited- Sadie West
Best Dancer- Hannah Trapp
Best Cheer-Haidyn Hale
Best Stunts-Addison Roller
DEAR (Dedication, Enthusiasm, Attitude, and Responsibility- Bella France
Best Jumps-Kiersten Robinson

January 22, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The DCHS basketball teams have split the season series with district-foe Stone Memorial.

The Tigers lost to the Panthers Friday night at Crossville 58 to 51 while the Lady Tigers won 60 to 59. In the earlier meeting on December 10, the Tigers won 67 to 58 but the Lady Tigers lost to the Lady Panthers 67 to 54.

The Tigers are now 10-9 overall and 2-5 in the district. The Lady Tigers improve to 13-8 on the season and 3-4 in district play.

DeKalb County will host White County Tuesday night, January 25 and travel to Livingston Academy Friday night, January 28. Action each night begins with the girls game at 6 p.m. followed by the boys contest. WJLE will have LIVE coverage.

The Lady Tigers opened a 16 to 6 lead over Stone Memorial in the 1st period and led 34 to 28 at halftime and 44 to 42 by the end of the 3rd period before scoring a 60 to 59 victory.

Avery Agee led the way for DC with 17 followed by Kadee Ferrell 14, Ella VanVranken 11, Xharia Lyons 10, and Madison Martin and Ella Hendrixson each with 4.

The Tigers trailed 13 to 6 after the 1st period, 29 to 20 at halftime, and 43 to 32 after the 3rd period before falling to the Panthers 58 to 51.

Jordan Young scored 14, Stetson Agee 11, Brayden Antoniak 6, Elishah Ramos and Conner Close each with 5, Isaac Knowles 4, and Alex Antoniak, Jordan Parker, and Seth Fuson each with 2.

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