The Tigers faced the Gordon Lee Trojans with the energy of a three game winning streak on their minds on Friday, Sept. 14.

Darlington started off slowly, with an unsuccessful first drive that forced a punt, giving the Trojans possession of the ball. A miscommunication led to a Gordon Lee touchdown on a 60 yard pass, putting the Trojans ahead 7-0 early in the first quarter.

A Tiger fumble recovered by their own senior lineman Jacob Daniel ended another unsuccessful drive, but an interception by sophomore defensive-back Casey Gunn put the ball back in Tiger possession.

“With Gordon Lee being a rival, I believe the environment was the greatest challenge, but I believe we are a much better team than our performance displayed. We just needed to execute better,” junior Karson Swiger said.

A 20-yard run by junior quarterback Frank Manning put Darlington in good position to score, and a diving touchdown reception by Gunn tied the game at 7-7 to end the first quarter.

A broken up pass by sophomore defensive end Luke Lewis and a tackle in the back field by senior outside linebacker Tommy Atha and junior safety Kobe Nadu forced Gordon Lee to punt again.

Back-to-back 15-yard runs by sophomore running back Demetrius Rogers and a quarterback run by Manning brought the Tigers close to the endzone, and a rushing touchdown by junior running back Kolin Rogers put Darlington up 14-7 to end the first half.

Junior kicker Alex Liddle started the second half for the Tigers with a deep kickoff, but a 50-yard return by the Trojans put them in strong field position for their first drive. A sack by junior inside linebacker Dawson Williams and a pass broken up by senior outside linebacker Cam Watson kept the Tiger energy running high, and a 60-yard run by Kolin Rogers put Darlington in good offensive position.

A rushing touchdown up the middle by Demetrius Rogers put the Tigers up 21-7.

Gordon Lee’s kickoff return was stopped in its tracks with a hard hit from freshman Joe Marion. Back-to-back sacks by junior linemen Cade Brock and Tate Ratledge put the ball back in Tiger hands.

“Gordon Lee is a very scrappy team, we had to be mentally tough and make sure we didn’t get any dumb penalties or do something that would negatively affect our team later on in the season,” Watson said.