SEASON OPENER SETBACK

Watertown 28, Smith Co. 7

By Terry Collins Courier Sports

CARTHAGE — The Smith County High Owls football team opened their 2026 regular season last Friday night in Carthage against Watertown. 

The Owls won a thriller last year in Wilson County as an inexperienced Owls team — featuring lots of freshmen made their debut this year. 

The hosts got off to a great start by scoring on its first offensive play but the Purple Tigers responded with the game’s final 28 points to register a 28-7 win. 

“I am proud of the way our guys fought hard the whole game,” said Smith County head coach Matt Dyer. “They battled with a very talented and athletic Watertown team. We made some mistakes in the game. We will fix them and get better. We still have a lot to learn and experience to gain. We are a young team, so we will have some growing pains. At one point I think we had five freshmen on the field at one time or another. A lot of guys played their very first varsity snaps against an experienced Watertown team.”

Watertown led 21-7 at halftime and possessed the ball for over 19 minutes in the second half and held Smith Co. to only one first down to maintain their lead. 

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