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 3^rd 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 2^nd 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 2^nd 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 3^rd 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.