Dawson Finds the Win Column After a Big Road Win

On a very rainy Friday night in Gainesville, Dawson stormed into the Brickyard and knocked off the Trojans, 30-13. The umbrellas were out in full force as the rain was coming down throughout the pregame and carried into the first half. But when it was time for football, the Dawson Tigers were ready. Despite some early miscommunications, where a very frustrated Coach Maxwell had to burn two timeouts in the games first 4 minutes, the Tigers dominated on both sides of the ball. Size played a factor in this one as the Tigers dominated the trenches on both sides of the ball as they gained 309 yards on the ground, while holding the Trojans to just 2 rushing yards.

Team Notes

The Tigers were led by Elijah Smith, Matt Bennett, and Kade Moledor as the three combined for 91% of the Dawson offense. Bennett had himself a nice game as he had 100 yards on the ground on 10 carries while also adding two big TDs, one for 39 yards and one to put the game away late in the 4th. Smith led the team in rushing as he had 118 yards on 18 carries while notching a TD and Moledor had 68 yards on 13 attempts and opened the scoring with an early TD run. The defense was very dominant all game and gave the Trojans very little to work with. The only obvious knock on the Tigers is they totaled 113 penalty yards.

North Hall was never in this one as they struggled to do anything against the Tigers defense. Tanner Marsh did connect with Ryals Puryear for a 62-yard scored to end the half and Marsh later connected with Sam Gailey for the other Trojans score. Their defense had nothing go their way as the Tigers ran it all over them. Trey Patterson the junior LB led the defense with 16 tackles while junior Zeke Harris and senior Alston Self had 12 tackles each.

Game Breakdown

It was a very wet day in Gainesville as they rain started around 6:30 and did not stop until halftime. The Tigers had some early communication issues forcing Maxwell to burn the two timeouts early, but after the Trojans Punter shanked his first punt of the game, it was all Tigers. Moledor and Bennett’s touchdowns put the Tigers up 13-0 in the first quarter and the Tigers defense shut down the Trojans. The Trojans were frustrated, and things became a bit chippy. Elijah Smith got his rushing TD in the second quarter and Dominic LeBlanc added a field goal to put Dawson up 23-0. However, after throwing six straight incompletions, North Hall QB Tanner Marsh was able to connect with his WR Ryals Puryear on a beautiful wheel route that went for 62 yards as the Trojans evaded the first half shutout.

The Trojans carried that momentum into the second half as Marsh connected with Gailey for a 17-yard TD pass. North Hall went for two to try and make it a 10-point game but failed to convert and Dawson led 23-13. Unfortunately for North Hall, that’s where the momentum ceased as the Tigers defense persisted and held off anything the Trojans threw their way and in the 4th quarter Matt Bennett was able to find the end zone again to put the game away.

Look Ahead

Dawson County will return home to host the Stephens County Indians (2-1) who are coming a 27-11 victory over Flowery Branch. As for North Hall, they will host the Walnut Grove Warriors (2-0).