Turnovers played a key role in Chestatee’s 55-7 win over Dawson County on Friday night.
The 55 points scored were the most points given up, at home, by a Tiger team in Head Coach Jeff Lee’s tenure at the school. For Chestatee it was the most points scored in a game since a 57-0 win over Gilmer County in 2008.
The War Eagle defense intercepted Tiger quarterback Tyler Dominy five times, four of which were returned for touchdowns.
Chestatee free safety and quarterback Scott Chewning picked off three of those passes, returning two for touchdowns of 98 and 74 yards.
With the loss, Dawson stands at 0-4 entering it’s open week. The War Eagles are currently 2-1 and will travel to play a tough Monroe Area team this Friday night.
Chestatee got onto the scoreboard quick on a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Montrai Tate with 9:17 remaining in the first quarter. The War Eagles put up another score on a 54-yard touchdown pass from Chewning to Alex Moore at the 5:12 mark of the first quarter to take a 12-0 lead.
Dawson answered with 1:54 left in the first when Dominy found receiver Bruce Clark from 18-yards out. Ethan Brown added the extra point and the Tigers cut the score to 12-7.
The game began to fall apart in the second quarter for Dawson.
Chewning added another touchdown on offense, with an 11-yard scamper around the left end. The 2-point conversion was good and Chestatee held a 20-7 lead with 3:45 remaining before the halftime buzzer.
The Tigers took the ensuing kickoff and marched down to the Chestatee 11-yard line. Dominy dropped back to pass and was intercepted at the 2-yard line, by Chewning. Chewning returned the interception 98-yards for the touchdown.
The War Eagles held a dominating 27-7 advantage at half.
“That really killed us, the interception before half,” Lee said. “We were driving before halftime and the interception for a touchdown really hurt.”
Chestatee scored three more touchdowns on interception returns in the second half. Two of them by War Eagle defensive back Pearce Gruenenfelder of 31 and 68 yards respectively.
“I called Tyler on Saturday morning and we talked about keeping his head up. We also went over some fundamental things. We will try and keep Tyler upbeat. His mistakes are correctable things and we will get them right over the next two weeks,” Lee said about his young quarterback.
Dominy finished the evening going 11-for-25 and 157 yards.
“It is really frustrating for our players and coaching staff. I thought Chestatee was better than Pickens County. We have to get prepared now ... and focus on our region games coming up, starting with Fannin County,” Lee said.
The Tigers will take Monday and Friday off this week. They will focus on lots of fundamentals and start putting in their game plan for Fannin starting on Wednesday.
The Rebels are currently 2-2 after losing to Murphy (N.C.) this past Friday. The team has wins over Gilmer County, 17-14, and Jackson County, 28-14. Fannin has also lost to Pickens, 14-10.