After earning a state ranking for the first time in school history, the Dawson County varsity girls soccer team wanted to show that it deserved the honor.

The Lady Tigers had that chance when Fannin County came to town last week.

It is better to beat the defending Region Champions to do it, said Dawson head coach Jed Lacey. This game had the feeling of a playoff game.

The Lady Tigers earned a 2-1 comeback win versus the Lady Rebels to extend their season record to 5-1 overall.

After Fannin scored with 16 minutes remaining in the first half, the Lady Tigers were forced to make some adjustments.

They never had a good scoring chance really again, Lacey said. Our defense was crazy.

The coach credited Jade Perry, Brooke Duffy and Riley Cox for controlling the middle of the field defensively. They came up big and did exactly what we asked them to do, Lacey said.

With the Dawson defense holding Fannin to just three shots on goal the entire game, the Lady Tigers offense came to life.

We played almost the whole second half on their side of the pitch, Lacey said.

With just over 20 minutes remaining in the game, sophomore Morgan Callas tied the game 1-1 with her second goal of the season and an assist from freshman Mckay Shively.

As the game was still tied with just three minutes left in regulation, Shively took an assist from Morgan Huber and found the back of the net to give Dawson the winning goal, and extend her team-leading total to seven goals on the season.

The team will return to action this weekend at the Jekyll Island Tournament of Champions.

The Lady Tigers will take on Richmond Academy on Thursday, Cedar Shoals on Friday and Strong Rock on Saturday.