Football season is finally here. The Tigers, under head coach Jeff Lee, will travel to Jasper this Friday to take on the Pickens County High School Dragons in the opening game of the 2010 season.
Both teams are looking for respectability after disappointing seasons last year.
Long time Pickens County head coach Steve Sewell and his squad were 2-8 last season with wins over West Hall and East Hall.
The Tigers managed only one win last season over Rabun County.
Dawson County played its preseason scrimmage against Greater Atlanta Christian last Thursday. The Tigers lost to the Spartans by a 20-7 score.
The Tigers lone touchdown came on a Tyler Dominy to Ethan Brown pass from 55-yards out.
“I thought Tyler did a great job at quarterback. Ethan ran and caught the ball very well. He also did a good job on defense,” Lee said.
“Overall we did some very good things. The only thing I really was disappointed in was the play of some of our older players,” he added.
Offensively, Dominy hooked up with six different receivers during the game.
Lee praised the play of defensive linebacker Cody Smith and defensive back Stanton Rogers.
“Both Cody and Stanton played really well. They made some good tackles,” Lee said.
GACS put the game away in the third quarter.
The turning point was a fumbled ball that was scooped up by a GACS defender who rambled into the end zone with it. The score pretty much put the game out of reach for Dawson County.
The Spartans began the scoring early. On the first possession of the game, GACS scored a touchdown to go up 6-0.
Dawson’s defense stopped GACS the next three series, but the Tiger offense just couldn’t get going.
“GACS has a big quarterback, good tight end, and big offensive linemen. They just lined up and ran behind those big guys,” Lee said. “They have some speed in the backfield and once they got in the secondary, those backs were hard to tackle.”
This week’s game against Pickens will start at 7:30 p.m.
Pickens looked strong in its preseason game last Thursday at West Hall.
“They rely on their fullback and quarterback,” said Lee after watching film on Pickens. “They will be patient on offense. Coach Sewell is a good coach and has been around a long time. Pickens is going to do what they do and won’t change.
“They looked really good on film. The game with West Hall wasn’t even close,” he added.
A key to the game will be if Dawson can control the line of scrimmage. The Dragons have some defensive players that can really run to the football. Pickens will also be very physical.
“It should be a good match-up,” Lee said.
All Tiger fans should come out and support their team, Lee said.