The Kirksville Tigers tried to rally from twenty points down, got to within seven, but ultimately fell to Capital City 35-20. Bottom line: the Tigers gave up too many big scoring plays and gave up too many sacks. The Cavaliers opened the scoring after a bad Kirksville punt gave them excellent field position. Jaylen Thomas scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 48 yard run just two minutes into the game. Later in the first, KHS forced Capital City to turn the ball over on downs, then Cole Kelly smashed his way into the end zone on an eleven yard run to tie the game at 7-7. Capital City would score the next three touchdowns to take a 27-7 lead late in the second period. But after an interception by Carter Pinkerton gave the ball back to the Tigers, Jace Kent scored on a 48 yard screen pass to cut it to 27-14 right before halftime. Capital City took the opening kickoff in the third quarter, fumbled the ball away, and Kirksville responded with a 35 yard touchdown pass to Malik Rodriguez to get to within 27-20. Capital City answered right away with a 69 yard run by Thomas to take a 35-20 lead early in the third. The Cavaliers would control the ball for the final six minutes of the third quarter and into the fourth to keep the ball away from Kirksville. The Tigers second turnover of the game late in the fourth quarter ended any hope for a Tiger comeback. Kirksville finishes the regular season at 4-5. The prevailing opinion is that KHS will host St. Joe Benton in the first round of district play next Friday as the number four seed, but MSHSAA will have the final say. We’ll know for sure Saturday evening and we’ll let you know on this page. Meanwhile, Benton lost to Chillicothe 22-0.