The Dawson County Tigers hushed the North Hall crowd at The Brickyard on Friday night when they picked up their first region win over the Trojans.
The Tigers fought through a significant number of penalties as well as North Hall's Kyle Bacus who had already racked up 829 rushing yards coming into the game.
Dawson got on the board after their first drive from their own 35-yard line courtesy of a Peyton Allen field goal.
On defense the Tigers ended the Trojans drive when they held them on a fourth down and 4 around the 22.
The second drive for the Tigers saw three completions from Coey Watson to Austin Young and was capped off on a touchdown throw to Nick Murphy.
Dawson County went up 10-0 with 34 seconds in the first quarter.
North Hall's next possession saw Maddox Turner run on back-to-back plays for 18 yards and 31 yards to take the Trojans to the 8-yard line. North Hall scored with 10:34 in the second quarter to make it 10-7.
The Tigers next drive ended with a tipped ball that was intercepted and returned to the 24 by Cutter Sanford.
The Trojans took advantage of the turnover and scored again with 6 minutes until half to make it 14-10.
When the Dawson County offense was unable to get anything going, the defense went back to work. Penalties helped the Trojans in their ensuing drive, but the defense put up a goal line stand to get the ball back on downs.
The Trojans added a personal foul which gave the Tigers some breathing room to start their next drive. The final drive before the half, however, would result in a missed field goal.
After the half, the North Hall festivities came to an abrupt halt when senior Kolton Brumbelow returned the kickoff 99 yards for a Tiger touchdown to go ahead 17-14.
The Tigers would not trail again.
The fired up defense forced a three-and-out and the Dawson County offense went right back to work. Dawson went to Payton Myers on the ground repeatedly and Watson then connected with Murphy for his second touchdown of the night to go up 24-14 with 6:36 left in the third.
The Trojans fought back on the next possession with a series of runs by Bacus. Jackson Madonna got in the end zone to bring it back within 3 at 24-21.
The following Dawson drive ended when Watson connected with Luke Martin for a touchdown to put the Tigers up 31-21.
The defense held again and the Trojans punt attempt resulted in a bad snap over the punter's head. He had to cover the ball and Dawson took over at the 2-yard line of the Trojans. Watson got in on a keeper to add to the lead, 38-21.
Myers would add another touchdown on the next drive, following the blocks of Martin to make it 45-21.
The Trojans final drive ended with a touchdown and a try for a 2-point conversion that was stopped by Dylan Nix.
Dawson County moves to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in region play with the 45-27 victory. They will face Union County at home next week.
For complete game coverage, see Wednesday's edition of the Dawson County News.