The Macon County High School Tigers hosted the Firebirds of Pearl Cohn on Friday, September 2nd at Pat Parker Memorial Field. Pearl Cohn has long been a football powerhouse in the state of Tennessee, winning back to back state championships in the late 90's and turning out football stars such as John Henderson and Santonio Beard. The Firebirds have seen a drop in enrollment over the past couple of years, and due to this the Firebirds were able to drop from class 4A to 3A. All this brought about Friday night, which was the region opener for both teams. Macon County received the opening kickoff and brought it back to the 35 yard line. The Tigers game plan was to control the clock and put together some long drives. This was evident in the first drive of the game, as the Tigers reeled off a 75 yard drive that took just over 8 minutes that culminated with a 7 yard touchdown run by Michael Dallas. Uziel Hernandez added the extra point, and the Tigers took an early 7-0 lead. Pearl Cohn immediately went to work, as they moved the ball down inside the Tigers 20 yard line thanks to a good return and one long passing play. The Firebirds kept pounding, until they found themselves on the 1 yard line, where quarterback Deaunte Mason took the sneak into the end zone for six. The extra point attempt was blocked by the Tigers, and Macon County had a 7-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter of the game belonged to Pearl Cohn. The Tigers did put together a nice drive on their next possession, but would be stopped on a fourth down conversion that gave the Firebirds the ball with some nice field position. It didn't take long for the Firebirds to find pay dirt, as Mason connected with tight end Jeremy Gordonfor an 18 yard touchdown that game the visitors a 12-7 lead. The two point conversion failed, and the Tigers were set to receive the ball once again. The Firebirds kicker booted the kick into the end zone for a touchback, as Macon County took possession on their 20 yardline. The Tigers once again moved the ball out to midfield and was facing a huge fourth down and needed four yards to move the chains. The Tigers rolled the dice, as Michael Dallas ran off left tackle and then cut it back up the middle. However, he was tackled justshort of the first down marker and the Firebirds took over on downs once again. Pearl Cohn looked to strike quickly and got the ball into the hands of their greatest weapon tailback Bobby Coucil, who made an electrifying move to go in for a 47 yard touchdown run to give the Firebirds an 18-7 lead. Deaunte Mason connected with cousin Rashad Mason for the two point conversion, and led 20-7 with time winding down in the first half. Macon County was once again face with terrible field position after a touchback on the kickoff. It didn't take long for Pearl Cohn to get the ball back, as Tiger quarterback Adam Shaw was sacked in the backfield and fumbled the ball. Pearl Cohn recovered and punched anothertouchdown in the end zone, as Mason hit Gordon from 10 yards out to give the Firebirds a 26-7 lead. The two point conversion failed, and that was the score going into halftime. The Tigers made some adjustments at halftime defensively and came out the second half and stuck it to the Pearl Cohn offense. Both teams went scoreless in the third quarter, but the Tigers got some momentum early in the fourth as Michael Dallas broke free for a 74 yard touchdown run. Hernandez added the extra point, and the Tigers had closed the gap to 12, as they trailed 26-14 with over seven minutes remaining in the game. The Macon County onsides kick was recovered by the Firebirds, and it wouldn't take long for Council to put the game away as he dashed 44 yards for the touchdown to seal the victory for Pearl Cohn. The two point conversion failed once again,as the scored moved to 32-14. Both teams exchanged possession once more as the clock ran out on the Tigers. The Tigers played a pretty decent game, but just gave up too many big plays. This is all correctable stuff, and I believe the Tigers are improving every week. Michael Dallas showed why he is one of the top running backs in the mid state, as he rushed for 172 yards on 20 carriesand 2 TD's. Quarterback Adam Shaw was 3-7 passing for 5 yards. Junior Jonathan Hudson once again led the Tiger defense as he stuffed the run up the middle all night long. He has led the Tigers in tackles every game thus far. Macon County must now turn their heads to the Dragonsof York Institute, who will be in town this Friday for homecoming. Homecoming activities will take place all week, with the powder puff game and bonfire on Thursday and the parade on Friday. Kickoff is set for 7 P.M.