The Dawson County offense came alive last Friday night in Homer, scoring four touchdowns and amassing 314 total yards of offense.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough as the Banks County Leopards (1-2; 1-1) used the tandem running of half backs Justin Beasley and Demetric Dempson to gain 407 yards rushing in a 48-27 win over the Tigers.

With the loss, Dawson (1-2; 0-2) will have to regroup against Fannin County this week in Blue Ridge. Fannin (2-1; 1-1) comes into the game after a massive 41-6 loss at Jefferson last week.

Fannin has two wins against Gilmer County, 38-14, and East Jackson, 20-6.

Neither the Dawson County defense or the Banks County defense could stop the other teams offense Friday night. The Tigers not only gave up over 400 yards rushing, Beasley had 25 carries for 275 yards and Dempson carried the ball 14 times for 133 yards, they also allowed Leopard quarterback Chris Porter to complete 7 of 13 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns.

Banks County scored on its first possession of the ball game.

Dempson broke loose for a 37-yard gallop into the end zone only one minute and 15 seconds into the game. The extra point was true and Banks led 7-0 with 10:45 to go in the first quarter.

The Leopards scored quickly on their next chance on offense.

Starting at their own 29-yard line, they would find pay dirt only three plays later. Beasley broke off for a 21-yard run, followed by a Dempson 40-yard sprint.

Leopard quarterback Porter hooked up with Kane Duncan from 10-yards out for the touchdown with 6:29 remaining in the first. The extra point was good and Banks held a 14-0 lead.

Junior Tiger quarterback Chase Gilreath then got Dawson rolling.

Gilreath completed three passes for 89 yards to get Dawson down to the 1-yard line.

The big play was a 66-yard pass to Stephen King.

Gilreath finished the game 10-for-21 for 216 -yards. It took three plays from the 1-yard line, but Dawson finally punched in a score on a dive by running back Cody Tobias.

David Scully added the extra point and Dawson cut the Banks lead in half, 14-7, with 2:41 left in the first quarter.

Dawson County High School Head Football Coach Jeff Lee and his team tied the score with 7:52 left before halftime.

Gilreath broke loose on an option and scampered untouched into the end zone from 37 yards out. Scully added the extra point to tie the score, 14-14.

Banks took the next kickoff and went on a 10-play march, which took over 5 minutes off the clock.

Dempson scored from 2-yards out and the extra point was right down the middle, to make the score 21-14.

Momentum was a big factor, and the Tigers let it get away from them just before the halftime intermission.

Tiger Eian Perry took the kickoff return out to the 28-yard line.

Gilreath found TJ Byrd on a 9-yard pass completion.

On the very next play Banks County safety Kane Duncan intercepted an errant Gilreath pass and returned it down to Dawson’s 22-yard line.

The Tiger momentum vanished after Porter found Duncan in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown as the buzzer sounded for halftime. Dawson’s players looked as if somebody had knocked the air out of them as they climbed the stairs to find their locker room at half time.

Despite trailing 28-14, the Tigers began a mini-rally in the third quarter.

Gilreath found Cody Tobias and 49 yards later Tobias was in the end zone. A botched snap caused the extra point to be no good, but the Tigers cut the score to 28-20 with 5:17 left in the third.

Like a heavy weight boxing match the Leopards answered.

Banks County took only three plays to once again serve a blow to the Tigers.

Beasley found an opening on the left side and went un-touched from 73-yards out to add another score for Banks. The extra point was good and Banks jumped back out to a 35-20 lead.

Beasley added another touchdown with 2:01 remaining in the third quarter to stretch the lead even more, 42-20.

Defensive pressure from Banks County caused Gilreath to throw three interceptions in the second half.

One of them was returned for a touchdown of 27 yards.

This time the extra point was blocked by Kelsey Boyle, but the damage had been done. Banks held an insurmountable 48-20 advantage with 5:38 remaining.

The Tigers scored on another Gilreath to Cody Tobias touchdown pass from 30-yards out to trim the Leopard lead to 48-27.

An onside kick from the Tigers was recovered by Banks, which ended any hope of a Dawson come back.

Tobias finished the game with two catches for 79 yards and three touchdowns.  

Gilreath was unstoppable on offense with 91 yards rushing on eight carries and a touchdown. Despite his four interceptions, he completed 10 passes for 216 yards passing and two touchdowns.

Boyle was tremendous on kickoff returns with four, for an average of 21.3 yards per return.

The Tigers will travel to Fannin County this Friday to face the Rebels.

Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.