Dawson County High School Head Coach Jed Lacey's boys' soccer team picked up a huge win at Wesleyan on April 11. The Tigers won the tough match with a score of 1-0.
The only score in the game was on a goal by Cole Edwards with 15:25 remaining in the first half off of a penalty kick. It was Edwards' 13th goal of the season.
"Cole Edwards came through with a big penalty kick to win the game for us. Cole is so cool under pressure," Lacey said.
Goalie Brooks Fulford recorded his sixth shutout of the season.
"This was the kind of game I wanted for us to come out of spring break with to get ready for the stretch run with our final three region games coming up," Lacey said.
Two of the next three games for the Tigers are against state-ranked opponents. The Tigers face off against West Hall, No. 4, yesterday (scores were not available as of press time) and No. 10 ranked East Hall in the April 22 regular season finale.
"This game was a statement maker for us, as this is the first time in school history that we have ever beaten a premier Atlanta private school in soccer. We have beaten other private schools before but not one of the historically ‘big boys' of soccer in the state," Lacey said.
The Tigers pushed the offense with 17 shots on goal. The Wesleyan goal keeper made some remarkable saves that kept Dawson County at only the single goal.
"I thought Brooks Fulford and their keeper went head to head in one of the greatest high school games I ever saw," Lacey said. "Brooks made some great saves for us and he just lets us play with so much confidence knowing we can win games.
"This was a team win. It took all of us to come together to get this win. This is the kind of effort it is going to take to finish the season strong and get ready to take on the rest of the state in the playoffs," he added.
Dawson County must win the next three games to capture the region championship. The Tigers will take on Banks County on Friday at home.
The Tigers are currently 11-2 overall and 3-1 in Region 7-AAA play. As of press time, the boys were ranked No. 6 in the state in Class AAA.