2026 TSSAA Football Class 5A First Round Dickson County @ Munford

FOOTBALL: Munford 53, Dickson County 14 MUSIC BY: Chad Blunt First Round of the playoffs is familiar territory for the Munford Cougars. Over the years the crew of Head Coach Slade Calhoun have seen highs and lows on the first Friday night in November. Lately the Cougars have enjoyed success reaching the Second Round. The 2026 Class 5A Playoffs opened with the Dickson County Cougars coming to Tipton County to take on Munford. The host Cougars were generous in the opening moments with a fumble on the opening possession. Dickson County transformed that gift into a Hunter Webb touchdown reception to take a 6-0 lead. “The kids think they know everything but they know nothing,” Calhoun said of his team’s mentality. “Once the playoffs start, Region titles mean nothing. Records mean nothing. Seedings mean nothing. You’ve got to come out and respect your opponents. “They’re in the Metro-Nashville area, that’s high-quality football,” he added. “They play a tough schedule and these kids just don’t understand that. They look at the numbers. They don’t know anything outside of Tipton County and Shelby County.” The Munford coaches challenged their starters to get focused and the Cougars dominated on defense, offense and recovered multiple onside kicks leading to a 53-14 victory. Munford returns to the Second Round and looks to advance past this round for the first time since 1997 (reaching the State championship game). Calhoun said if his boys come out with another lackluster beginning against Station Camp, they will extend that negative streak. “You can’t convince them of anything but we’ll be a whole lot of sad lads turning our stuff in,” he said. “They’re never going to learn. I’ve preached my sermon and they’ve all heard it.” Dickson County (4-7) enjoyed its lead for almost the entire first quarter. Munford drove down the field and capped off a drive with a Jaheim Smith 2-yard TD run. Braxton Grant added the two-point conversion to give the host Cougars an 8-6 lead. The visiting Cougars’ offense had to get comfortable on the sideline as Munford recovered back-to-back onside kicks. The first Dickson County turnover resulted in a Tay Stark 3-yard touchdown run to make the score 16-6 at the end of the first quarter. The second onside recovery for Munford led to a Stark to Qua Bell 23-yard touchdown pass to make the tally 23-6 just seven second into the second quarter. Munford (10-1) surged ahead 31-6 later in the period when Dixon Mooneyham exploded up the middle to the end zone from 48 yards out.