Dawson Pulls Away Late

Dawson County High School, FYNTV, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports

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 Brings the Heat, Dominates the Warriors

Dawson County High School, FYNTV, Sports, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports

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.

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