Dawson Pulls Away Late
Dawson County High School, FYNTV, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports October 24, 2022
It was a beautiful night for football last Friday night as these two region rivals squared off in Dawsonville. It was a tale of two halves as the Tigers used a big 17-point 3rd quarter to get ahead of Gilmer and win 17-7. The Tigers defense dominated all game as they held the Bobcats to just one garbage time TD. Dawson County won this one to stay undefeated in region play. The Tigers now are just one win away from clinching the Region 7AAA title. After losing back-to-back games, the Bobcats now sit on the outside looking in and with Pickens owning the tiebreaker, Gilmer no longer controls its own destiny.
Team Notes
The Tigers offense was rather sluggish on Friday night, but they were able to rely on their defense. Davis Glass overthrew a couple passes and finished the night with just 30 yards going 3/11 in the air. Kade Moledor’s production was also a bit limited thanks to Gilmer’s tough defense, as he went for just 50 yards on nine carries. The offensive player of the game was RB Elijah Smith who finished with 104 yards on ten carries and a TD. Smith also got the Tigers some momentum in the second half as he took the opening kickoff to the house for the first points scored in the game. The defense came up huge for the Tigers once again. Unfortunately, neither Hudl nor Maxpreps posted individual stats for the defense. Kenny Nelson had a couple of sacks along with DL Kevin Haymond. Cade Adams did his job and recorded a few more TFL. Adams has recorded at least one TFL in every game this season. Will Kurtz’s name was also mentioned a few times as he dominated the offensive line.
As for the Bobcats, their first half was rather promising, but after they came out of for the second half everything seemed to fall apart for Gilmer. After a solid defensive showing, the Bobcats took a 0-0 ballgame into the second half. However, their gameplan in the second half was so predictable that Dawson kept shutting everything down. Rellinger was 1/6 throwing the ball for just 43 yards and ran the ball ten times for -20 yards. Hunter Watkins and Will Kiker combined for 13 carries and 44 yards. Brock Titus was the workhorse for the Bobcats as he ran the ball 23 times for 95 yards. Watkins was able to bring in the big 43-yard pass from Rellinger. The defense kept their team in the game but was eventually wore out by the Tigers run game and the holes got wider and wider in the second half. Aspen Hataway led the way with seven tackles.
Game Notes
As mentioned, the first half was very slow paced and there was not a lot going for either team on offense. That is until late in the 2nd quarter. Gilmer had moved the ball to the Tigers side of the field with just seconds left. Rellinger dropped back and had just enough time to get the ball down field to Watkins who was able to get up and bring down the catch inside the Dawson five. Unfortunately, the Bobcats failed to stop the clock in time and the whistles blew indicating the end of the half.
Elijah Smith returned the kickoff for a TD to open the 2nd half and then it was all Dawson. Smith had a huge second half and he added another TD on the ground. Dom LeBlanc also kicked a FG after missing on his first attempt earlier in the game. The big 17-point 3rd quarter was enough to propel the Tigers to the win.
Look Ahead
Dawson will travel to Dahlonega to take on the Lumpkin County Indians. This is a huge game and is labeled as the title game. If you can not attend, be sure to tune in as Noah Johnson and I are on the call on FYN TV. As for Gilmer, they will head into a much-needed Bye week before finishing the season at home against White County in what could be a playoff clinching scenario for both teams.
Dawson Wins Thriller to Remain atop the Region
Dawson County High School, FYNTV, Sports, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports October 17, 2022
In a thrilling back and forth game, the Tigers came out on top 31-24 on Friday night to remain undefeated in region play. Dawson used a big 17-point 4th quarter to pull away in this one. QB Davis Glass had a big 72-yard pass TD to his favorite target WR Dom LeBlanc to tie it up late in the game and then Glass punches it in on his own on the next drive to give Dawson the lead and ultimately the win.
Dawson now sits at 3-0 atop the region and Wesleyan falls to 2-2 sitting behind Gilmer thanks to Gilmer’s head-to-head tiebreaker over the Wolves. This is a huge win for the Tigers as they control their own destiny for the region title with upcoming games against Gilmer and Lumpkin.
Team Notes
QB Davis Glass turned in a clutch performance in this one as his two big 4th quarter TDs pushed the Tigers to the win. He finished 6/8 for 174 yards and 2 TDs in the air while adding another 49 yards and TD on the ground. Elijah Smith led the way for the Tigers ground game with 62 yards on 9 carries while Kade Moledor was able to find the endzone once despite a rather quiet night on offense ending with just 20 yards. Dominic LeBlanc led the Tigers in receiving yards with 100 on 3 catches, two of which were touchdowns. Kevin Haymond led the way for the defense with 6 tackles and 2 sacks with Cade Adams also getting to the QB twice. The defense limited the Wolves ground game to just 38 yards on 18 attempts.
As for the Wolves, they let this one get away from them and now they are in a tough spot in the region standings. QB Ben Brown did his part to exploit the Dawson secondary by going 16/27 for 240 yards and 3 TDs, but with no help from the ground game, his efforts were not enough. WR Jamie Tremble led Wesleyan in receiving with 180 yards on 5 catches and 2 TDs and senior Reed Purcell brought in the other TD pass from Brown. On defense, Charlie Hillegass led the way with 17 tackles.
Look Ahead
The Tigers will host their final regular season matchup against Gilmer 5-3 (2-2) as they look to shutdown the big rushing trio of the Bobcats. As for Wesleyan they will enter their Bye Week in hopes to regroup and make a push upwards into the playoffs.
Dawson Brings the Heat, Dominates the Warriors
Dawson County High School, FYNTV, Sports, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports October 2, 2022
Wow. That sums up my reaction to last Thursday nights game. Wow. What a showing for the Tigers as they were able to beat White County 31-0 in a big region showdown. Though both teams struggled to get going early on, Dawson finally got it going at the end of the first half and never looked back. The Tigers defense played insanely well, and the Tigers run game slowly wore out the White County defense and the Warriors failed to limit the Dawson momentum. Dawson County held the Warriors to only 92 yards on offense and the Warriors were a poor 1/11 on third down. A trick play and a solid defense was the difference in this huge win for Dawson. Dawson County and Gilmer are the only remaining teams in this region to have not lost a region game.
Photo from Rio White Dawson County Newspaper
Team Notes
The Tigers defense dominated. They won this game by picking off the Warriors four times, one for a Pick 6, limiting them to less than 100 yards, and not allowing a single point. The offense struggled to get going in the first half but a crucial trick play to end the half gave the Tigers all the momentum and they were able to dominate in the third quarter. Led by Kade Moledor, the Tigers run game totaled 194 yards while QB Davis Glass added another 112 in the air. Moledor ran the ball 18 times for 109 yards in his first real big breakout game of the season. Not only that, Moledor made huge defensive plays all night. Unfortunately, neither Hudl nor Maxpreps had individual defensive stats for Dawson. Davis Glass also was productive in the run game as he added 69 yards and a rushing touchdown. Kenny Nelson also had a big game as he rushed for 46 yards and a touchdown while also accounting for the big Pick 6 in the 4th. Matt Bennett added the other TD as he was able to execute the epic trick play that gave the Tigers their first lead of the game. Dom LeBlanc led the team in receiving with 59 yards on 4 catches.
Unfortunately, there is not much to say on White County. Tripp Nix, who has had a great season so far, failed to have a positive impact in this one. He was 4/13 for 14 yards and 2 interceptions while only adding 11 yards on 7 carries. The Warriors threw 4 total interceptions and were held to just 92 yards on 52 plays. On defense Jacob Holbrook had 17 tackles and 2 TFL and Jon Scott also notched 17 total tackles. J.D. Trowell racked up 2 TFL while Caysen Duvall ad Devin Norton also picked up 1 TFL each.
Game Breakdown
Things were quick to go the Tigers way as they picked off Nix on the first possession of the game, but they failed to take advantage of the solid field position and were forced to punt. It was the same story for each of the teams first five drives, Dawson put together a few plays, but could not finish a drive and White County barely moved forward. That changed on the last Tigers play of the first half. HC Sid Maxwell called a TO with 18 seconds remaining to force the Warriors to punt and to Maxwell’s liking the punt was not a good one and they took over on the Warriors side of the field. With no timeouts remaining, it looked like Maxwell would try and play it safe and move into field goal range, but that wasn’t Maxwell’s plan. His offense perfectly executed a HUGE hook and ladder play as Matt Bennett ran it up the sidelines for a big 48-yard TD and gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead into halftime.
In the second half it was all Dawson County. On White County’s first possession of the 2nd half, they tried to work out their own trick play, but WR Kane Lowery threw a terrible ball that was intercepted by the Tigers which later led to a Glass TD on a designed QB run. Dawson posted 17 points in the 3rd quarter and later added a Pick 6 to really throw it into the faces of the Warriors. Dawson traveled to White County and totally owned their region rival and it would appear after this statement win, Dawson County is the favorite to claim the region.
Look Ahead
Dawson moves to 4-2 (2-0) on the season and will play host to the Pickens who is coming off a much-needed Bye Week. As for White County, they fall to 2-3 (0-1) and will host the Wesleyan Wolves on Friday night. The Wolves are coming off an impressive win against Lumpkin County last week.
North Georgia Week 6 Players of the Week
FYNTV, Sports, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports September 27, 2022
Players of the week brought to you by:
As we wrap up Week 6, here are last weeks Players of the Week for their schools!
Chatooga- QB Quarry Gibson 95 total yards, 1 TD
The QB struggled a bit throwing the ball but he was able to connect with Trey Smith for the only Indians score of the game as well as leading the team in rushing yards averaging 6 YPC.
North Murray- Tyler Henry
Gilmer- RB Will Kiker 14 Car, 133 Yds, 9.5 YPC, 2 Tds, 243 all purpose yards, 6 Tot Tckls
Get to know the name. Kiker may be the best player in this region. He paired with Brock Titus and Hunter Watkins to combine for 339 rushing yards. The senior led the team in rushing yards and was tied for the team lead in rushing TDs while also making his presence felt on the defensive side of the ball.
Dawson- RB/LB Kade Moledor 6 Car, 71 Yds, 2 Tds, 7 Tot Tckls, 1 TFL
The captain of this Tigers team got it done again as he was able to pick up two rushing TDs in the first half, including one big 37 yard TD. He also notched 7 tackles which led the team as well as adding a TFL.
Lumpkin- WR Cal Faulkner 10 Rec, 209 Yds, 3 TDs, 5 Tot Tckls
Lumpkin dominated Pickens and Faulkner was a big reason why. His name was mentioned all night. He was Cooper Scott’s favorite target as he accounted for 79% of Scott’s passing yards.
Pickens- LB Kadyn Hampton 13 Tot Tckls, 2 QB hurries
Not a lot went the Dragons way on Friday night, but senior Kadyn Hampton had a solid performance leading the Dragons defense in tackles while also getting in the backfield a few times.
Fannin- QB Elijah Weaver 9/15, 215 Yds, 5 TDs
Talk about a good day, 5 TDs on 9 passes! Weaver showed up this last Friday leading the Rebels to a big shutout win over Gordon Central.
Dawson Finds the Win Column After a Big Road Win
Dawson County High School, FYNTV, Sports, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports September 5, 2022
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).