by CASEY HINDMAN
Saturday, September 5, 2009 12:33 am

Cannon County's Andrew Woodin takes off on a long run with DeKalb County Tigers in pursuit Friday night.

SMITHVILLE — For the Cannon County Lions here Friday night, it was a case of too late ... and too little.

Down by 35 points in the third quarter, the Lions reeled off 26 unanswered points before succumbing to the Tigers 35-26.

Turnovers early in the game proved to be the downfall of the Lions in their district loss at DeKalb County High School.

Cannon Co. was able to keep DeKalb in check on the Tigers first possession. The Lions found themselves in trouble early when DeKalb intercepted a Cannon Co. pass at the 29-yard line which led to the first Tiger touchdown on a quarterback keeper.

The Lions second possession of the game saw a second interception, but a roughing the passer penalty nullified the play.

DeKalb recovered a fumble at the Cannon 40-yard line for the third turnover in the first quarter. A deflected pass caught by a Tiger receiver in the end zone gave DeKalb a 14-0 lead.

The third interception of the first half by the Tigers led to a 41-yard touchdown pass by DeKalb making the score 21-0. The Lions were unable to generate any offense giving the ball back to DeKalb for their final drive of the half which ended in a touchdown closing out the first half leading 28-0.

The second half started the same as the first with the Lions throwing their fourth interception which was returned 49-yards by the Tigers, giving them a 35-0 lead.

The Lions finally came alive in the third quarter when Andrew Woodin took off down the sidelines for a 50-yard run. The drive ended with Andrew Woodin throwing a 16-yard screen pass to Daniel Woodin for a touchdown. The conversion failed making the score 35-6.

The Lion defense finally stopped the potent DeKalb offense. With the Lions having possession with 11:32 left in the fourth, Andrew Woodin hit Daniel Woodin for an 80-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion made the score 35-14.

Cannon Co. recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and their first play was a 40-yard pass from Andrew Woodin to Heath Simons for a touchdown, cutting the lead to 35-20.

The Lions defense continued to hold DeKalb in check. The last scoring drive by the Lions came with 9:00 left in the fourth, highlighted by a 56-yard run by Andrew Woodin and a 4-yard Andrew Woodin to Andy Agee touchdown pass, making the final score 35-26.