For the first time in recent memory, longtime former region rivals Giles County (4-5) and Marshall County (7-1) squared off for the second time in a regular season game after the teams added the extra games due to Covid-19 cancellations.

The first go around was all Marshall County as the Tigers exploded in the second half for the 38-14 win in Week 4.

The second matchup was a much tighter ballgame with the Tigers grasping to 18-15 lead midway through the fourth before a Demari Braden touchdown sealed the 25-15 win.

"Obviously it’s always tough to beat any team twice, much less your rival and one coached as well as Giles," Tiger coach Thomas Osteen, who is 8-2 all-time against the Bobcats at Marshall County, said. "We wanted to make the game was about us and not make the game more than it was.”

“That being said these seniors will have a special memory being able to beat Giles twice in the same regular season."

Once again the defense was the dominant factor in the Tigers’ win.

After allowing just seven points the previous two contests, the Tigers held the Bobcats scoreless for the first three quarters before a turnover and one big play allowed Giles County to score 15 quick points and cut the lead to 18-15 before the Braden touchdown and one more huge stand by the blue and white defense squelched the comeback attempt.

"I think we have gradually improved each week," Osteen added. "I hate we were not able to get in the offensive rhythm that we would like to, but a good Giles County defense had a lot to do with that."

Christian Stacey and Devonte Davis, the two undisputed leaders on defense, came up with yet another combined dominant performance against their former region rival.

Davis led the squad in tackles for the third time in four games with 12 stops, a forced fumble, and a tackle for a loss while Stacey finished with 11 tackles, two quarterback hurries, and one and a half tackles for a loss.

The two defenders have now combined for an astronomical 119 tackles, 17 for a loss, four interceptions, and 3.5 sacks combined heading into the final two games of the season.

If Stacey and Davis locked down the middle and back of the defense all night, Jayden Hart dominated the line of scrimmage.

The talented sophomore, who is also having a career year on offense, was causing havoc in the Bobcats’ backfield the entire night, finishing with eight tackles with a whopping 3.5 tackles for a loss to go along with a sack.

Logan McKnight tacked on five tackles with one and a half for a loss and Joseph Gold added four tackles, one and a half for a loss, and two quarterback hurries.

Bryson Hammons continued his masterful control of the Tiger offense, helping Marshall County control the clock with the running game while keeping the Bobcats’ defense honest by completing 6-of-12 passes for 76 yards and most importantly, another contest of mistake free football.

Hammons went over the 1,000-yard mark in passing yards (1010 yards on the season) against Giles County and has now thrown for 12 scores against just two interceptions.

The junior quarterback has progressed into a model of consistency behind center, throwing for 2,806 yards, 28 touchdowns and most importantly, just seven interceptions in two years as a full time starter for the Tigers.

That success has come, in part, due to the great play from the offensive line both protecting the passer to make sound decisions without rushing and also opening holes for an array of talented running backs.

Friday night was the Braden and Lamarion Pierce show.

Both backs started the season with limited attempts with Connor Hilton carrying the majority of the load, but as the season has progressed both Pierce and Braden have seen more opportunities and the most time in the spotlight.

Pierce had arguably his best offensive game of the season, running for 79 yards on just seven attempts for an 11-yard average.

The junior back now has 219 yards on the season in just 32 rushes for a 6.8 average per attempt and totaling 429 all-purpose yards on the season.

Braden, who came into the contest leading the squad with four rushing touchdowns, added on a career-high three scores against the Bobcats to go along with 59 yards on 13 attempts.

And like so many other Tigers wins this season, when an opponent focuses on the know playmakers on the Marshall County offense, another player was given an opportunity to step up and like so many other games this season, the player stepped in and made the most of the playing time.

This week, that player was Kaden Whitson, who leads the Tigers in passes defended on defense, but came into the game with just one catch on offense.

The Bobcats’ defensive scheme placed all its attention on A'ky Howard and Davis and Hammons took advantage, hitting Whitson with two of his six completions on the night, including a crucial 43-yard catch that set up the final Tiger touchdown of the contest and gave Marshall County a two-score advantage.

Howard still finished with two catches for 23 yards to go along with two carries for eight yards and is now second on the team with 416 all-purpose yards on the year.

Hart also added one catch for 16 yards and heads into the final two games with 250 receiving yards and four scores on just 12 receptions.

One out of every three completions to Hart are going into the end zone during the 2020 campaign.

Jon Estes added yet another near perfect game for the Tigers in the special team area with four out of five kickoffs going for touchbacks, knocking home both extra point attempts, and nailing a 28-yard field goal in the first half.

In fact, the Estes field goal and a Braden touchdown was all the scoring from both squads in the first half, giving the Tigers a 10-0 advantage heading into intermission.

Marshall County wasted little time in the second half to expand its lead.

Following a turnover, the visitors needed just two plays to get its first points of the second half.

Hammons connected with Howard for a 23-yard gain before Braden broke through the Giles County defense and ran 29 yards into the end zone to push the lead to 18-0 following a two-point conversion run by Davis.

Tigers’ fans that assumed the route was underway were badly mistaken as a Bobcat receiver slipped behind the Marshall County secondary for a long touchdown reception to trim the lead to 18-7 just inside the fourth quarter.

Looking to fool the Giles County defense, the Tigers tried to run a reverse, but Davis bobbled the handoff and the Bobcats recovered just 20 yards away from the end zone and needed just a handful of plays to cut the lead to 18-15 following a successful two-point conversion with just under seven minutes to play.

With the momentum shifting and three quarters of Marshall County dominance seemingly slipping away, coach Osteen gathered his players in the huddle and calmed them down.

"Stay the course," Osteen reminded the team. "We knew adversity would strike in the game. Our offense made a huge drive when we had to have it. Defensively we made it tough on Giles County all night."

The ensuing drive put the game out of reach.

A long pass to Whitson set up the final touchdown of the game by Braden and the Tigers left Pulaski with a five-game winning streak intact.

One of the losses, a last minute 14-10 Week 8 loss last season and the other coming in the first round of the 2014 playoffs during Osteen's first year in Lewisburg, just a week after beating the Bobcats soundly 34-17 during the final week of the regular season.

The last time the two squads played twice in the same season was back in 2017 when the Tigers beat the Bobcats 45-10 in the regular season before demolishing Giles County 45-0 en route to its second straight semifinal playoff appearance.

Marshall County hops back into region play this Friday at Spring Hill.

With a win against the Raiders, the Tigers will control its own destiny entering the Nolensville contest, with the potential winner locking up second place in the region and home field advantage for the first two games of the postseason.

But before that, Osteen would like his players to focus on one thing--- a deceptively good Spring Hill (2-6, 1-2) squad.

"It's huge," Osteen said about the upcoming contest. "Region game against an opponent that is very talented and dangerous. They are a young team that’s on a two-game win streak and we have to go to their place. We must continue to get better in practice this week!"

The Raiders’ two-game win streak started with a dominant 35-0 win over a struggling Maplewood (0-5) squad and 19-14 win over 1A Richland (3-3), while not impressive, Spring Hill has also played last season's 5A state runnerup Summit (7-1) 28-7 closely along with playing close against region rival Nolensville (3-2) for a 30-14 loss and holding 6A powerhouse Mount Juliet (5-1) to just four scores in a 28-0 Golden Bear’s win.

Giles County looks to regroup against brand new Green Hill (2-4) High School out of Mount Juliet, which is riding a two-game winning streak with wins over Stratford (52-6) and York Institute (34-14).

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Spring Hill.

Marshall County 0 10 8 7-25

Giles County 0 0 0 15-15

Marshall County Offense

Total Yards (225): Rushing 149, Passing 76.

Rushing: Lamarion Pierce 7-79, Demari Braden 13-59-3TD, A’Ky Howard 2-8, Connor Hilton 3-4, Christian Stacey 1-2, Bryson Hammons 5-(-4).

Passing: Bryson Hammons 6-12-76-0-0, Christian Stacey, 0-1-0-0-0.

Receiving: Kaden Whitson 2-43, A’Ky Howard 2-23, Jayden Hart 1-16, Christian Stacey 1-(-6).

Kicking

PAT: Jon Estes 2-2.

Field Goals: 1-1-28.

Kickoffs: 5-297-4TB.

Punts: 5-161.

Kick Returns

Kickoffs: A’KY Howard 2-32, Devonte Davis 1-15.

Punts: Lamarion Pierce 2-3.

Defense

Tackles: Devonte Davis 12 (TFL), Christian Stacey 11 (1.5TFL), Jayden Hart 8 (3.5 TFL, SACK), Logan McKnight 5 (1.5TFL), Chandler Davis 5, Connor Hilton 4, Joseph Gold 4 (1.5TFL), Kaden Whitson 2, Kortez Ingram 2, Anthony Diaz 1, Hayden Sheppard (FUM REC).