The LMS Tigers, coming off one the most exciting wins in school history last week had to wait out a lightning delay on Homecoming before taking on the Dickson County Dragons, who came away with a hard fought 34-28 victory Thursday night at Preston Hopkins Field in Lewisburg.

Caleb Fields put up 173 yards of total offense for LMS with 117 yards rushing on just five carries, one reception for 18 yards, and a huge 38-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Kamron Liggett Hightower had a big game as well, rushing for 96 yards on nine touches, including a pair of touchdown runs.

One long drive

In the first half, Dickson County took advantage of some early Lewisburg turnovers and a momentous offensive drive that ate away a minute and a half at the end of the first quarter, plus incredibly, the entire second quarter.

"When you only have four offensive snaps in the first half, we can't win if we are not on offense scoring," said LMS head coach Elliot Cook. "For whatever reason, we have dug a hole the last two weeks, we won last week, but you can't do that all the time."

Dickson County piled up 326 yards in the rushing attack with Demontez Coleman leading the way with 192 yards on 22 carries and 2 touchdowns.

Darien Burns added 123 yards on 16 carries and had two touchdown runs, while Cole Martin had a touchdown toss for the Dragons.

'Good plan'

"Give credit to them, they had a good game plan," said Cook. "They were happy with three yards and a cloud of dust and were content, just moving the chains. We just couldn't make enough stops to get our offense on the field."

LMS won the opening toss and on the first play from scrimmage, Hightower broke off a 30-yard run, but on the next play, a backwards lateral went awry, sending the Tigers in reverse.

Two plays later, the ball popped loose and Dickson County's Zander Hedrick fell on it at the LMS 47.

The Dragons mounted up and ran the ball five times down to the LMS 32-yard line where Coleman finished the job, scooting to the end zone for touchdown.

Coleman added the PAT run, putting the Dragons in front 8-0 with 3:22 remaining in the first quarter.

Dragons' fire

Hightower would come up with a nice kickoff return to the Dragons' 41-yard line and followed with a first down run to the 10, making it first and goal to go.

The Dragons breathed some defensive fire, stopping the Tigers on the next two snaps before knocking the ball loose and recovering at the LMS 8-yard line.

Dickson ran three times, moving the ball out to the 24-yard before the first quarter ended.

What happened next was pure football as the Dragons rushed the rock 15 consecutive times to earn a first and goal at the LMS 10-yard with less than 20 seconds remaining in the first half.

Two consecutive incompletions left just six ticks on the clock before Dickson County quarterback Cole Martin found Hunter Crosby in the end zone for touchdown as time ran out.

The two-point try was no good, leaving the Tigers in a 12-zip hole.

Tigers step up

The Dragons had the football at midfield to begin the second half, but the Tigers came up huge on defense, stopping Dickson on a three-and-out.

LMS took over at their own 37-yard after the punt, and on the next snap, Fields took it all the way to the house, finally putting the homecoming boys on the board at the 6:08 mark of the third quarter.

Tiger signal caller KJ Johnson made it a 12-8 ballgame when he tossed a floater to Mitchell Ford for the two-point conversion.

Coleman answered on the next play from scrimmage, racing 63 for a touchdown and the Dragons re-opened a double-digit lead at 18-8.

Finally, a lead

The Tigers came back with their best offensive series of the game with Hightower scoring on an 8-yard run that capped off a 12-play 57-yard drive.

The potential game-tying two-point try was no good as LMS trailed 18-16 with 49 seconds left in the third quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Fields came up with a three-hop fumble at the Dickson 46-yard line, giving LMS the turnover they had waited for all night.

Incredibly, they gave it back near the Dragons' goal line, but luck was on their side as the ball came free again and a host of Tigers piled on the pigskin at the Dickson County 2-yard line.

Hightower busted in for touchdown, plus the two-pointer, putting the Tigers in front for the first time in the game at 22-18 with 7:47 remaining in the contest.

Falling behind

The Dragons were not done as they came back to take the lead on a Burns 28-yard TD dash with just less than four minutes to go.

Coleman added the two-pointer, and on the ensuing kickoff, lightning struck late as Dickson County recovered an on-sides kick at the LMS 48-yard line.

Burns would score eight plays later and Martin hooked up with Jemar McElrath on a two-point pass, putting the Dragons up 34-22.

The Tigers had a bolt of their own left in the name of Fields, who took the kickoff 38-yards to pay dirt, cutting the Dickson County lead to 34-28 with 1:46 remaining in the game.

Dickson County was able to run out the clock, dropping the Tigers to 3-2 on the season.

Thursday's foe

LMS will travel to Spring Hill next Thursday for a huge game versus their archrival Generals.

"We have to play spoilers now, there is no other option," said Cook. "For some reason everyone wants to beat us, so we have to bring our 'A' game every single time."