All good things must come to an end.

Unfortunately for the Marshall County Tigers (9-3) that ending came sooner than expected Friday night, following a 28-24 comeback win by DeKalb County (8-4) after the Tigers had built a 10-point lead with just seven minutes left in the contest.

"Obviously, disappointed that we could not close the game out," Marshall County coach Thomas Osteen, who owns a 56-21 overall and 11-6 playoff record in five years with the Tigers, said. "We needed one more first down on offense or one more stop on defense to win the game but were unable to get it."

"However, we had plenty of chances in the first half to extend our lead and not leave the game up to chance in the fourth quarter and did not take advantage of those opportunities," Osteen added.

The Tigers have bowed out of the playoffs in the second round two straight years after three consecutive semifinals appearances.

DeKalb County, on the other hand, advances to the state quarterfinals for the first time in school history after entering the 2019 playoffs with just three postseason wins in the program's history.

DeKalb County faces a Nolensville (10-2) squad the Tigers beat handily 30-14 in the final regular season contest.

The Knights easily knocked off previously unbeaten Livingston Academy (11-1) on the road 33-7 to advance to its first ever quarterfinal appearance in its three year existence.

Livingston Academy shutout DeKalb County 31-0 during week seven of the regular season.

The Tigers appeared to put the nail in the visiting Tigers’ coffin when senior running back Kel Greer scored on a 49-yard throwback pass with seven minutes remaining in the game for a 24-14 advantage just minutes after taking a 17-14 lead with 10:38 remaining in the fourth quarter via a seven-yard touchdown run by Greer after an impressive 12-play drive.

But DeKalb County needed just three minutes to cut the Tiger lead to 24-21 with 4:37 remaining in the game.

The game looked to be all but over on Marshall County's next possession when Greer ran three straight times for a first down, but DeKalb County made full use of its timeouts and the Tigers were forced to punt with under two minutes left in the contest.

DeKalb County claimed the lead for good with 41 seconds remaining when quarterback Axel Aldino narrowly escaped a sack that would have ended the contest, forcing a Marshall County defensive back to move up to make a tackle on the scrambling quarterback that allowed Tyzaun Ladet to slip behind the defense for a 44-yard touchdown catch.

The Tigers managed to move the ball inside the DeKalb County side of the field for a chance at a final scoring attempt, but a Bryson Hammons throw to the end zone was intercepted and DeKalb County left Lewisburg making history for its long suffering football program.

The Tigers had multiple chances to build a large first half lead, but an early touchdown pass to Andrew Gold was called back for an illegal receiver down field and a subsequent 50-yard field goal was wide to the left.

A 50-yard run by Greer to the two-yard line was also called back by a questionable holding call with 5:26 remaining in the first half, resulting in a 23-yard field goal from Estes.

Marshall County was also called for 11 first half penalties to keep the game tight heading into the break.

"We had two scores taken off the board in the first half due to penalties." Osteen pointed out. "One was an alignment issue that we wrongly covered up a receiver and the other was a very ticky tack holding call that brought a long score back."

"Hopefully this game serves as a great learning tool for our younger players that you have to attack each day of the week with great energy, focus, and accountability in order to be ready for every aspect of a game, because if you don't all good teams will expose you," Osteen added.

Senior running back Kel Greer finished with a game-high 139 yards rushing on 30 attempts to finish with 1,189 yards on the ground and 21 rushing TDs on the season.

Greer also finished with a team-high 1,421 all-purpose yards on the season.

Senior receiver Andrew Gold added five catches for 56 yards to finish with 17 receptions and 296 yards and a score on the year,

Devon Wilson returned to Marshall County for a tremendous senior season and a team high 43 receptions for 462 yards and a score for the Tigers.

On defense Tez Allen finished the year with 67 tackles with 20 for a loss and four sacks and Riqkyous Summers added 77 tackles with nine for a loss.

"Overall, I'm very proud of the body of the work this team accomplished this year," Osteen offered. "Winning a fourth region championship in five years hopefully shows that there is a strong commitment to excellence from so many aspects of our school and community and staff."

The Tigers, however, welcome back a strong cast of characters starting with rising junior quarterback Hammons, who finished a brilliant sophomore campaign with 136-for-216 attempts for 1,796 yards with 15 touchdowns and just six interceptions.

A'Ky Howard will be the focal point of a strong returning receiving corps after finishing with 22 catches for 323 yards and two scores, along with Deonte Davis with 10 catches for 143 yards and two scores, and Hunter Rolof with four catches for 100 yards and three touchdowns.

Connor Hilton will be both a returning rusher (27 att. 195 yards) and tackler (84 tackles) in 2020 and will be joined by Hayden Sheppard (66 tackles), Chandler Davis (56 tackles), and Christian Stacey (63 tackles and three INTs).

Davis and junior Kaden Whitson both finished with three interceptions for the Tigers.

Jon Estes will also return for a senior season after turning in one of the best season kicking seasons in the state, making 14-out-of-16 field goals.

"As always, every year and team is different with new challenges," Osteen stated. "But it will no doubt be exciting to have as many players coming back to the team next year that played big time roles on the 2019 team!"

DeKalb County 7 0 7 14-28

Marshall County 0 10 7 7-24

Marshall County Offense

Total Yards (302): Rushing 124, Passing 178.

Rushing: Kel Greer 30-139-TD, Bryson Hammons 5-(-2), Connor Hilton 1-(-4), Devon Wilson 3-(-9).

Passing: Bryson Hammons 14-26-178-TD-INT.

Receiving: Andrew Gold 5-86, Kel Greer 3-69-TD, Jayden Hart 1-10, Hunter Rolof 1-9, A’Ky Howard 1-4, Devon Wilson 3-3.

Kicking

PAT: Jon Estes 3-3.

FG: Jon Estes 1-2-22.

Kickoffs: Jon Estes 5-299-3TB.

Punts: Joseph Gold 5-134.

Returns

Kickoffs: Devon Wilson 4-76.

Punts: Andrew Gold 1-40, Devon Wilson 3-11.

Defense

Tackles: Riqkyous Summers 7 (TFL), Connor Hilton 6, Hunter Rolof 5, Chandler Davis 5 (.5TFL, SACK), Tez Allen 5 (2TFL, SACK), Lamarion Pierce 4 (INT), Logan McKnight 4, Devon Wilson 3, Terry Gulley .5 (.5TFL), Andrew Gold (FUM REC), Omari Armstrong (FUM REC).