The Dawson County Tigers soundly defeated the Lumpkin County Indians Friday night propelling them to a region championship matchup next week at home against Greater Atlanta Christian.
The Tigers moved to 7-1 overall and 5-0 Region 7-AAA when they beat Lumpkin 54-8 at home.
The Dawson County defense began with what would be the standard for the night when they held the Indians to a three and out on their first possession.
Once the offense took the field, it was clear the Tigers would have no trouble moving the ball against their rivals.
Starting from their own 26, Coey Watson completed his second pass to Nasser Clark for a first down at the 46-yard line. From there Watson and Myers would run while mixing it up with a completion to Kolton Brumbelow.
Myers scored on a run with 7:54 in the first quarter. Cole Dennis kicked the point after to put the Tigers up 7-0.
The next Indians' possession only gained yardage courtesy of a face mask penalty on the Tigers.
After a punt return to the Indians' 23-yard line by Drake Samples, Watson hit Nick Murphy for a 28-yard touchdown. Conner Bearden snuck in on the 2-point conversion to make it 15-0 with 5:05 in the first.
Neither the Indians nor the Tigers would get much out of their next drives, but Watson punted for the Tigers to pin the Indians at their 1-yard line.
Unable to move the ball, the Indians were forced to punt from their own end zone where the punter bobbled the snap and had to fall on the ball for a safety.
With 11:20 in the second quarter, the Tigers led 17-0 and returned the kick to the Lumpkin 40.
Taylor Cronan ran 18 yards for a first down before Nasser Clark would carry it for a touchdown. A quick 2-point conversion attempt was no good, but the Tigers increased the lead to 23-0 with 9:39 until half.
Peyton Allen's kickoff would go to the end zone and the Indians could not get going from their own 20. Lumpkin punted and Samples returned it after a bounce to the Tiger 40.
After another Clark completion, Myers scored again with 7:56 in the second. The point after made it 30-0.
After another stalled drive, the Tigers would give the ball back to the Indians on a Watson fumble but the Dawson defense held again.
The Tigers started the second half with the ball and could not move the chains, but a Murphy punt again pinned the Indians deep at their own 1-yard line.
Another three and out put the Tiger offense back on the field. Luke Martin had a reception for a first down and lowered his head to run over the Indian defender along the sideline.
Penalties dogged the Tigers and backed them up to near midfield before Watson would connect with Brumbelow for a touchdown that spanned nearly half the field.
With 8:23 in the third, Dawson led 37-0.
The next Indians possession was abrupt.
They fumbled and Dawson recovered at the Lumpkin 37 and were able to put a Dennis field goal on to make it 40-0.
When Lumpkin got the ball back, they put together their only scoring drive of the night that was helped by multiple penalties against Dawson including a personal foul and another face mask.
Zack Matthews' running helped move the ball and Cole White got in on a touchdown. Lumpkin also converted the two points to make it 40-8 with 45 seconds in the third quarter.
Whatever ray of hope the Indians may have had from the scoring drive was quickly snuffed out when Lumpkin made the fatal error of kicking off to Brumbelow.
He returned the kick for a 99-yard touchdown. It was the third time this season to return a kickoff for a touchdown. The return made the score to 47-8.
The fourth quarter saw more of the same from the Indian offense and the Tigers' Bearden came in at quarterback. Dawson would drive behind Myers' and Bearden's running before Bearden got in the end zone with 3:22 in the game.
Allen's extra point made it 54-8.
Dawson County will take their perfect region record into next week's showdown against GAC and have earned home field advantage for the playoffs.