November 5, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb County Tigers made a quick exit from the TSSAA Class 4A Football Play-Offs with a 21-14 loss to the East Hamilton Hurricanes at Ooltewah Friday night.
The season for the Tigers comes to a close with a record of 6-5 while the Hurricanes (8-3) will advance next Friday, November 11 hosting the Upperman Bees (9-2) who defeated Chattanooga Central 34-7 in the first round of the play-offs Friday night.
An injury to quarterback Jordan Parker prior to the game limiting his ability to throw effectively forced the Tigers to rely on the ground game and a knee injury to talented offensive lineman Ean Jones sidelined him during the game.
Still, the Tigers controlled the time of possession keeping the ball for 37:05 minutes of the 48-minute game and star running back Colby Barnes racked up 327 yards on 55 carries with one touchdown.
DeKalb County scored first with 3:46 left in the 1st period on a 37-yard touchdown run by Malachi Trapp completing a 98-yard drive. Kicker Juan Ortega added the extra point and the Tigers led 7-0.
East Hamilton scored on a Tiger turnover with 10:57 left in the 2nd period after a botched snap. Zachariah Laboo scooped it up for the Hurricanes and returned 64 yards to even the game up at seven after the PAT by Spencer Payne.
The Hurricanes took the lead with 3:26 left in the 2nd period on a 56-yard touchdown pass from Juan Bullard to Kirreeese Willis. Payne booted the extra point and East Hamilton led 14-7.
Colby Barnes scored on a 3-yard touchdown run with 11:53 left in the 4th period capping a 58-yard drive and with Ortega’s PAT the game was tied at 14-14.
The Hurricanes then took the lead for good with 10:31 left in the game on a 26-yard touchdown run by Juan Bullard completing a 65-yard drive. Payne added the extra point and East Hamilton went on to claim a 21-14 victory.
SUMMARY
DEKALB COUNTY 7 0 0 7 – 14
EAST HAMILTON 0 14 0 7 – 21
DC – Malachi Trapp 37-yard touchdown run (Juan Ortega kick)(3:45, 1st)
EH – Zachariah Laboo 64-yard fumble recovery (Spencer Payne kick)(10:57, 2nd)
EH – Juan Bullard 56-yard pass to Kirreese Willis (Payne kick)(3:25, 2nd)
DC – Colby Barnes 3-yard run (Ortega kick)(11:53, 4th)
EH – Juan Bullard 26-yard run (Payne kick)(10:31, 4th)
EH STATS DC
8 First Downs 25
11-95 ` Rushes-Yards 67-396
124 Passing Yards 7
219 Total Yards 403
11-8-0 Passing (Att-Comp-Int) 2-5-1
6-50 Penalties-Yards 2-20
4-37 Punts-Average 1-43
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-1
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing: Juan Bullard 9-61, Michael Hinton 2-34 (EH); Colby Barnes 55-312, Jordan Parker 7-55, Malachi Trapp 1-37, Ari White 2-3, Jon Hendrix 2-(-11) (DK)
Passing: Juan Bullard 8-11-0 124 yards (EH); Jordan Parker 1-1-0 9 yards, Jon Hendrix 0-3-1, Malachi Trapp 1-1-0 -2 yards (DK)
Receiving: Kirreese Willis 6-89, David Cole 2-35 (EH); Malachi Trapp 1-9, Colby Barnes 1-(-2) (DK)