It takes guts to do it on the road, but Dawson County Middle decided to go for the win with a 2-point conversion instead of kicking an extra point during last week’s game.

With only two minutes to go in the game, it was a crucial decision by head coach Thomy Edwards.

Down 13-12, the 2-point conversion would have sealed the victory for the Tigers, unfortunately the pass from quarterback Jackson Putnam to Keaton Toal fell incomplete, giving the Pickens County Middle School Dragons a 13-12 win.

The Tigers fell behind early as Pickens opened the scoring in the first half on a 80-yard touchdown run giving the Dragons a quick 7-0 lead.

Dawson answered on a quarterback sneak from 2-yards out by Putnam.

The extra point was not good. The missed extra point turned out to be a big factor in the game. With the touchdown, Dawson had trimmed the lead to 7-6.

The Dragons scored on their next possession on a 20-yard pass play. Pickens missed the extra point, bringing the score to 13-7.

Edwards’ team would not quit. Putnam completed four straight passes down to the Dragon 20-yard line.

The effort by Dawson’s offense came up short. With only 15 seconds to go before halftime, Dawson turned the ball over on downs.

The Dawson defense rose to the occasion to begin the second half of play.

The Tigers forced a Pickens turnover, giving the ball to the Tigers at the 38-yard line.

The Tiger offense coughed up the ball back to Pickens, but Dawson’s defense made a huge stop.

With two minutes remaining in the game, Tiger running back Zack Guy scored on a 5-yard run, cutting the score to 13-12.

“Zack ran the ball really hard for us,” said Edwards.

The missed 2-point conversion sealed the win for Pickens.

“We just came up short. Our guys played really hard,” commented Edwards.

With the loss, Dawson fell to 1-3 on the season.

The Tigers will play host to Jasper Middle School on Thursday, Sept. 24.

Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.