Dawson County Loses Home Opener to East Forsyth

Dawsonville, Ga – It was Senior Night at Tiger Stadium where the Dawson County Tigers took on the East Forsyth Broncos. The Broncos are coming off a big win against the Forsyth Central Bulldogs and the Tigers came off a bye week.

Dawson County Senior, Declan Rhodes, received the opening kickoff taking it out 21 yards to begin the opening drive.  Rhodes caught a 7 yard pass and two rushes by the Senior quarterback, Preston Bannister, resulted in a first down. The Tigers attempted to keep the game on the ground with 3 rushes for 5 yards forcing a punt.

East Forsyth began their opening drive with a 1 yard pass from Broncos Senior quarterback, Brock Szakacs, to senior DJ Haskell followed by a rush for no gain. The Broncos then converted the 1st down with a big reception from Chase Rhodes. Senior Gus Martin rushed it for 12 yards for another 1st down but the drive stalled and they had to punt back to the Tigers. 

The Tigers began the next drive with a bad snap for a 15 yard loss and a 4 yard rush by Sophomore Cody McBrayer. The Tigers decided to punt on 3rd down giving the ball back to the Broncos.

The Broncos struck first with a 35 yard touchdown pass from Szakacs to Haskell. The extra point was good making the score 7-0 with 3:37 left in the 1st quarter. 

The Tigers put together a nice drive down the field beginning with a 24 yard return from Senior Jacson Rickett. The Tigers kept the game on the ground with runs from McBrayer and Senior QB Preston Bannister. The 1st quarter ended with a false start. The Tigers could not get the momentum of the drive back with an incomplete pass and short 2 yard rush by Bannister. The drive ended when Bannister threw a costly interception to the Broncos Senior Gus Martin which would have resulted in a touchdown but a personal foul brought the ball back to their own 40 yard line. 

East Forsyth began the next drive marching right down the field with several good runs by Haskell and a 20 yard reception by Martin. Another personal foul penalty brought the ball back a little but Senior Troy Hoover rushed the ball into the endzone for their second touchdown for the night. 

The Tigers could not get the momentum back with two false start penalties causing another 3rd down punt. East Forsyth answered right back with a touchdown and an extra point bringing the score to 21-0. 

The next three possessions resulted in punts with the Broncos fumbling the last punt from the Tigers giving the Tigers the ball on the Broncos 43 yard line. The 1st half ended with East Forsyth over Dawson 21-0.

East Forsyth began the half with a long drive resulting in a 39 yard field goal bringing the score to 24-0. Dawson County began to put together a nice drive but a missed pitch from Bannister to McBrayer was recovered by the Broncos on their 30 yard line.

The Broncos struck again with a 45 yard reception by Rhoads then a 25 yard touchdown run by Haskell. With the extra point, the score was brought to 31-0.

The Tigers finally scored after a fumble from the Broncos was recovered. The Tigers found a little momentum with two key receptions bringing the score to 31-7. 

East Forsyth scored again on their next possession bringing the score to 38-7. 

The Tigers got the ball back with 3:04 left in the ball game but ran out of time. 

The final score was 38-7. The Broncos will travel to Winder-Barrow on Thursday 08/29 where they will take on the Bulldogs in a non-conference game. The Tigers will have a bye week to prepare for an away game against the Banks County Leopards on 09/06.