FIRST WIN FOR TATUM! | Running game, solid defense allow Eagles a 35-18 win at Daingerfield
The loser of a Thursday night battle between Tatum and Daingerfield would fall into an ominous 0-2 position to begin the 2026 Texas high school football season.
That was something Tatum and head coach Whitney Keeling and his Eagles just could not allow.
So a healthy running game, a hard-hitting defense and some timely turnovers became a great recipe, one that would allow the Tatum Eagles to escape Daingerfield, 35-18.
Tatum (1-1) plays at Diboll next Friday; Daingerfield (0-2) hosts Paul Pewitt.
Tatum looked to be in trouble early when Daingerfield linebacker Amarian Smith got free on a punt by the Eagles and blocked the punt. The ball scooted out of bounds before Smith or anyone else could pick it up, but the Tigers had the ball at Tatum’s 10-yard-line.
Daingerfield moved on first down – they lost 5 yards on a false start. Second down from the 15 resulted in a completion for a short gain.
Third down was disaster for the Tigers – or so it appeared.
Quarterback J.T. McCuin tried a pitch out, but the ball was mishandled and loose on the turf; Tatum’s Kyson George alertly fell on the ball, giving it back to the Eagles at their own 15. But officials ruled that it was an incomplete pass instead, and Daingerfield kept possession of the ball for what would be a fourth-down play at Tatum’s 9.
McCuin found no one open when he dropped back to pass, then rolled out to try and run for it. Tatum’s Grayson Lee, though, was waiting, and hit McCuin hard after just a yard gain, a turnover on downs.
The Eagles’ offense returned to the field – quarterback Dane Moore, behind the offensive line of Grayson Bartley, Maddox Riley, James Lennie, Kingston Sparks and Chris Guijosa – but promptly left it. Rogers Taylor, a talented running back who’s just a freshman, trying to make something happen, just flat out lost the football. C.T. Elkins of Daingerfield recovered it at Tatum’s 19, and then McCuin fumbled too – two fumbles, one by each team, on back-to-back plays. It was just a bit of a sloppy game early.
They would settle down, though.
Elijah Williams reeled off a quick 12-yard run, and it would get more yards than that, as a penalty was tacked onto the end of it, a 15-yarder for a facemask.
Now set up with a first-and-10 at Daingerfield’s 33, runs by Williams and Ty Moore would get Tatum inside the 10-yard-line.
Dane Moore scored for Tatum on the first drive, a 3-yard touchdown run that capped a 78-yard drive. Louie Chavez hit the point after, by the way, and Tatum went in front by the touchdown with 3:10 left in the first quarter.
Taylor, as a defensive back, picked off McCuin’s pass to apparently end Daingerfield’s next possession, but a penalty gave Daingerfield the ball back. The Eagles’ defense forced a punt, which was fielded with no return at Tatum’s 42.
receiver and returned the interception 75 yards for a score – Chavez’s extra point made it 14-0 Tatum.
And they would add one more, a 19-yard touchdown run by D.D. Brooks. They elected to go for two, and that would be by Ty Moore, giving Tatum a 21-0 lead.
Daingerfield scored before halftime – McCuin found Reign Wallace free and got the ball to him for a 12-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was missed, and Tatum went into the half with a 21-6 advantage.
In the third quarter, Tatum got another score, this one by Williams, on an 8-yard run. McCuin and Wallace connected for a second touchdown – a 20-yard pass near the end of the third quarter – but Daingerfield still trailed by two touchdowns.
Zeke Lester made it a three-TD Tatum lead again when he scored on a 25-yard run in the first minute of the fourth quarter (35-12). Daingerfield would score again, as well; unbelievably, it was another connection between McGuin and Wallace that did it, this one a 44-yarder with 5 ½ minutes left in the game.
Still, though, that was the game’s final score.