PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. — The Bulldogs of Claiborne County squared off with the Tigers of Pigeon Forge on Thurs., Oct. 30, and it was soon apparent that the game would be one to remember.

The entire first half was without scoring as the two teams moved the ball but could not put points on the board. The Bulldog defense being led by the play of Dakota Massengill, Chris Bell, David Sweet, Jacob Blankenship and Ryan Nelson limited the Tiger offense to 151 total first half yards while the Bulldog offense respectively racked up 94 yards. The two defenses both bent but did not break until the second half of play.

Before the game began Bulldog Head Coach Barry Lyles stated, “You always want to end the season with a win because it’s the last game for the seniors and it gives everyone a good feeling going into winter workouts. Everyone remembers the last ballgame.”

The last part of the statement was one that would be recalled at the conclusion of this game.

The second half began with the Bulldogs getting on the scoreboard first but the Tigers answered and so began the process of both teams answering the others scoring. On offense David Fusion, Erik Stone, Anthony Lewis and David Sweet seemed to impose their will of not wanting to lose on the Tigers defense; however, the Tigers were also fighting hard to win this contest.

The back and forth flow of the game continued into the first overtime and did not stop until the third and final overtime.

During the final overtime period the Bulldogs were unable to score a touchdown but did kick a FG through the uprights and only had to stop the Tigers once more to win the contest. The defense fought valiantly to keep the Tigers from breaking the goal line but was not able to stop the Tiger offense from scoring the winning touchdown. The game ended 32-29 in favor of the Tigers.

As Coach Lyles stated earlier everybody will remember the last ballgame of 2008 because it was by far the most exciting one of the season and proved to all attending that these young men were not going to fall in defeat without giving their all.

The Bulldog program would like to thank everyone for their support of the 2008 team.



Above: The Claiborne High School Bulldogs gather for the last pregame huddle of the 2008 season. (ALLEN EARL/Claiborne Progress)