MAKING HISTORY; Tigers cap first undefeated regular season since 1986

By Shea Haile Courier Sports 

GORDONSVILLE —  The 2025 edition of “The Battle for Smith County” featured a first ever region clash between the Gordonsville High Tigers and the Smith County High Owls on the gridiron. Big Blue was also chasing history with the opportunity to secure the program’s first undefeated regular season since 1986 and a region championship during the Tigers’ inaugural season as a Class 2A squad.

It was the perfect ending to the 2025 regular season for the Tigers as Gordonsville tallied a decisive 29-7 triumph over their cross-county rival Smith Co. Big Blue seized the Region 4-2A top-seed with a 4-0 run — claiming victories over Smith Co., Jackson County, Cannon County and Trousdale County. 

“The kids did a great job all year long — doing anything we asked them to do in the weight room, during the offseason being here at 7:00 a.m.,” said Gordonsville head coach Stephen Jackson. “These guys worked as hard as they could for a goal. They had fun while they were winning a region championship and all credit goes to the kids.”

“I thought they did a great job — Carthage is a great football team,” said Jackson on how the Tigers dealt with the stakes and history on the line. “They have lost a lot of games by one score so they are a great football team. I thought our kids handled it really well in a big rivalry game. We have not played them in the last game of the year for a long time. I thought the kids handled the game really well and handled the week.”

Thursday’s contest was the first regular season finale meeting in the rivalry since 1959. 

The Owls concluded their regular season slate with a 4-6 record including a 2-2 region mark. 

“I’m proud of our players and coaches,” said Dyer.  “Our guys played hard for four quarters and that is what we asked them to do. Gordonsville has a really good football team. Our defense did a good job of limiting their big explosive plays, especially in the pass game. We did not tackle very well and that led to some of their longer runs.”

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