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.
Longhorns humbled the Tigers on Friday Night
Dawson County High School, Sports, Team FYN Sports August 29, 2022
After a good performance in week one on both sides of the ball against Jackson County in Week 1, the Tigers never got going against the Longhorns. The first play from scrimmage was a big 80-yard pass TD for the Longhorns and they just never looked back. Every Longhorns score was at least 38 yards and they dominated both in the air and on the ground. The Tigers struggled to get anything going on offense as they managed just 201 yards and were only able to tack on two field goals as they fell in this one 49-6.
Team Notes
The Davis Glass/Dominic LeBlanc connection was the only thing working for the Tigers offense as the two connected for a big 69-yard pass, by far the longest play of the game for Dawson. Leblanc showcased some great footwork in this one, as he finished with 107 yards receiving. The sophomore Glass, however, struggled in this one as he finished just 8/26 for 142 total yards. As for the defense, nothing went right for them as they allowed 512 yards. Will Kurtz did come up with a few big plays for the Dawson defense as he finished with 2 sacks and 3 TFLs.
As for the Longhorns, everything seemed to go their way on Friday night. They outgained the Tigers by 311 yards, finishing with 326 yards in the air and 186 on the ground. Their defense was stellar as they forced six 3 and outs and never let Dawson get any momentum. They won the game in the trenches on both sides as the offensive line created some big holes while their defensive line was constantly in the backfield and held the Tigers to just 52 rushing yards. Neither Maxpreps nor Hudl had individual stats posted for Fannin County.
Game Breakdown
As mentioned, the first game of scrimmage for the Longhorns was a big 80-yard pass and after forcing a 3 and out and getting great field position thanks to a botched punt, they immediately tacked on another touchdown with a big 45-yard touchdown. The Tigers had no answer as they managed only 3 first downs in the first half with one of them attributed to a pass interference call by the refs. The big pass from Glass to Leblanc gave a little spark to the Tigers as Leblanc evaded defender after defender, breaking three tackles on the play. However, they were held to just three points. Lambert kept their foot on the gas as they notched three more big touchdowns in the second quarter, highlighted by another big 73-yard pass play, and the Longhorns took a 35-3 lead into the half.
The second half featured the same result for both teams as Lambert picked up a 77-yard TD run, and an 87-yard TD pass and the Tigers managed to add another 3 points in garbage time. We had a running clock as we started the 4th quarter and we got to see backup QB Walker Massey come in for a drive, though he fumbled the ball away.
Look Ahead
As we look ahead to next week the Dawson County Tigers will travel to North Hall to take on the 0-1 Trojans, who are coming off a Bye. The Trojans fell 35-14 to White County in Week 1, despite outgaining the Warriors by 157 yards. This will be a big test for the young Tigers QB, Davis Glass, as we await to see how he responds in the upcoming road game following this last road blowout. As for Lambert, they will look to keep the momentum going into this Friday night as they host the Mountain View Bears (1-1).