JEFFERSON — The defending state champion Daingerfield Tigers (7-1, 3-0) dodged a bullet in Jefferson and then scored two fourth quarter touchdowns en route to a key 27-6 victory over Jefferson.

With 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Jefferson forced Daingerfield to punt, but a roughing the kicker penalty gave the ball back to the visiting Tigers. Daingerfield was able to continue a drive to Jefferson's end zone and turn a 12-6 edge into a 20-6 advantage.

Daingerfield picked up two first-half touchdowns by tailback KoKo Smith to turn a 3-0 deficit into a 12-3 halftime lead, but Jefferson played ball control in the third quarter and got within a single touchdown with 2 minutes left to play in the third.

The Bulldog defense pushed Daingerfield backwards and forced the Tigers to punt on the fourth and 17, but the roughing the kicker penalty gave the Tigers an automatic first down in Jefferson territory. This allowed Daingerfield to head in for a touchdown.

Tiger quarterback Tyler Boyd capped off the nearly interrupted drive with a 4-yard touchdown run with 9:58 left in the fourth, then hooked up with Keyarris Garrett on a 2-point conversion to make it a two-possession ball game.

Jefferson's next drive ended on downs and, after forcing Daingerfield to punt again, the Bulldogs' last real shot at an upset ended when Tiger defensive back David Mims picked off a Clarence Lee pass and raced into the end zone for a touchdown.

An illegal block on the return brought Daingerfield back beyond the Jefferson 40-yard line, but University of Texas-bound wide receiver Chris Jones quickly made up the difference with a 36-yard scoring run that capped the night's scoring with just 2:26 to go.

Daingerfield's Smith was the game's leading ball carrier with 93 rushing yards on 14 carries, while Jones racked up 64 yards on just four carries.

Jefferson had three backs with more than 40 yards — Damon Gray had 49 on 15 carries, Lee had 47 on 13 carries and Destin Mosley had 41 on 16 carries.

Jefferson limited Daingerfield to just 85 yards of total offense in the second half, but finished the night with only 157 yards of offense.

Neither team was able to do anything through the air, with Daingerfield converting only 2 of 13 passes for 31 yards while Jefferson, which suffered a single interception, was 1-of-6 for 14 yards.

Jefferson plays Linden-Kildare Friday.

Daingerfield will face Ore City.