Daingerfield stung by Hornets, suffers first district loss

Coming into Friday evening’s contest with the Hooks Hornets, everything seemed to be going right for the Daingerfield Tigers. On this night, however, Daingerfield hurt themselves with a series of penalties and turnovers, leading to a 33-20 loss to the Hornets.

The Tigers have had a penchant for winning the toss, and they did so again against Hooks. As has become their norm, the Tigers deferred to the second half, and opened the game with a booming kickoff by kicker Jose Bello. The Hornets were held to a three and out series, and after an extremely poor punt, the Tigers began their first series on the Hornet side of midfield. That was the only positive of that drive, however, as the drive would end following an interception thrown by quarterback Reggie Jeter.

Following a Hooks touchdown, the Tigers’ fumbled the ensuing kickoff, giving the Hornets the ball 18 yards from another score. Less than six minutes in the game, the Tigers found themselves looking at a 13-0 deficit. That would be the score as the quarter ended and the teams reversed field. The Tigers opened the second quarter with a seven yard touchdown run by Jeter, making the score 13-6. The Hornets would score one more time to run the score to 19-6, which was the halftime score.

The Tigers’ began the second half on their own 32 yard line, and would eat two and a half minutes off the clock before scoring on a 15-yard run by Kieston Rushing, closing the scoring gap to 19-13. The Tigers defensively were on point for most of the third quarter, at one point dropping the Hooks quarterback for a 20 yard loss. That sack came at the hands of Tim Broner. The Tigers’, however were unable to capitalize after getting the ball in their own territory, with Hooks blocking an attempted field goal. The Tigers showed flashes of brilliance in the fourth quarter, with the other Broner, Timmyon, scoring on a 62 yard punt return to give the Tigers their first lead. The Tigers would be unable to close out the win, throwing interceptions on their two following possessions, after committing various penalties to deflate their drives.

A disappointed Coach Waldie stated, following the loss that “We hurt ourselves with penalties. The funny thing is, we are still tied for first in the district.” With one loss, the Tigers join Pewitt, Hooks, and New Diana as one loss teams in the district. The Tigers will travel to Queen City on Friday, looking to return to the win column and remain at the top of the heap. Daingerfield will then host the New Diana Eagles in their home finale, when they will also recognize their seniors, on Oct. 28.