This past week, the Georgia High School Association released the schedule for every high school football team for the Fall 2020 season. 

“We are looking forward to getting back to a normal routine and the opportunity to work and spend time with our players,” Dawson County Head Coach Sid Maxwell said. “I miss being with them.” 

The Tigers will start the season traveling to Cartersville to play the Cass Colonels. This 5-A school finished with a record of 4-6 last season and did not qualify for the state tournament. 

Next, the 4-A Flowery Branch Falcons will travel to Dawsonville. In 2019, the Falcons finished 7-3, with a first-round loss to Cartersville in the state playoffs, 14-6. 

The 7-A South Forsyth War Eagles will travel to Dawson County High School the following week. The War Eagles finished second in their region and lost to 21-0 to the Norcross Blue Devils in the first round of the state playoffs. 

For their last non-region game of the season, the Tigers will travel to Johns Creek to play the Northview Titans. The Titans went 6-4 and finished third in their 6-A region last year. They lost to Mays High School in the first round of the state playoffs. 

“It’s one of the most challenging non-region schedules Dawson has had,” Maxwell said. “We’re facing higher classification schools who also qualified for the playoffs.” 

After their first bye week of the season, the Tigers will play their first-ever region game against the White County Warriors. The Warriors are one of three teams joining Dawson County’s region this season. The Warriors played a 4-A schedule and went 5-5 last season. 

The Tigers will have their second and final bye week of the season afterward. The Gilmer County Bobcats, the second of the three new region teams, will travel to Dawson County. The Bobcats went 4-6 last season. 

The Tigers travel to West Hall to play the final of their three new region opponents the week following. The West Hall Spartans went winless last year, finishing 0-10 on the season. They will be coming from the same region as the White County Warriors. 

White County, Gilmer County and West Hall will be respectively replacing Greater Atlanta Christian, Fannin County and East Hall in the Tigers 7-AAA region. 

The Cherokee Bluff Bears will play Dawson County in the final regular-season home game. Last season, the Tigers traveled to the Bear’s stadium and beat them 52-9. The Bears went 2-4 in region play last season and finished with an overall record of 3-7. 

A day before Halloween, the Tigers will drive up Ga. 400 to take on the Indians and Lumpkin County. The Tigers were able to shut-out the Indians in Dahlonega last season, beating them 45-0. The Indians went winless in the region last year and finished 1-9 on the season. 

The last regular-season home game will be where the Tigers ended their regular season last year; in Gainesville against the North Hall Trojans. The Trojans beat Dawson County in a heartbreaker to end the regular season last year, 40-37. The Trojans went on to finish second in the region and won their first-round state playoff game against Lovett last season. 

The Tigers finished third in their region last year. With a new schedule and a new group of region competitors, anybody can be holstering the region trophy at the end of next season. 

“The demographic of this new region should bring big crowds to our games and provide a great competitive atmosphere,” Maxwell said.