Ridgeland Roughs Up Pickens 35-7

Featured Stories, Team FYN Sports

The Pickens Dragons had a tough time putting points up against Ridgeland on Friday night, as a rushing touchdown halfway through the third quarter was all the Dragons could muster up in a 35-7 loss to the Panthers.Prior to the opening kickoff of the game between the Dragons and the Panthers, the 2012-2013 Mr. and Ms. PHS were announced, as Christian Gibson and Hilary Wheeler received the most votes of those who were selected to the homecoming court.

Once the pre-game festivities had ended, the captains for both Pickens and Ridgeland met at midfield for the opening coin toss, which Ridgeland won. The Panthers chose to receive the opening kickoff of the game, which meant that the Dragons’ defense would need to step up right off the back.

The Panthers wasted no time in taking the lead in this matchup, as they drove the ball 63 yards on ten plays and took a 7-0 lead on a 3 yard touchdown with 7:52 remaining in the first quarter.

Aiming to provide an answer to the Panthers’ opening plays, the Pickens’ offense took the field on their own 25 prepared to make some noise. Unfortunately, the drive stalled out with the Dragons deep in Ridgeland territory, as a quarterback keeper by Tanner Brumby came up just short of the first down marker.

Following a Ridgeland drive that ended with a missed field goal, the Dragons gained possession on its 24 yard line. The offense put together a promising eleven play drive, but once again the drive ended when the team was unable to gain enough yards to convert on fourth down.

The next Panthers’ possession saw the team’s biggest play of the night, as a 49 yard pass resulted in Ridgeland stretching its lead to 14-0 with 5:30 left in the first half. Now positioned in a tough situation, the Pickens offense took over at its own 29 in desperate need of some points; however, the drive ended with another failure to convert on fourth down, the third consecutive turnover on downs for the Dragons.

Ready to put the game away for the Panthers, the offense managed to move the ball 73 yards in just one minute and five seconds and increased its lead to 21-0 thanks another rushing touchdown. Limited to just thirty-two seconds in the first half, the Dragons then proceeded to run out the rest of the clock and head to the locker room down three touchdowns.

Following the halftime intermission, the Dragons’ offense took possession on its own 25 and put together its most impressive drive of the night, which ended with a 1 yard touchdown run by Tate Rizoti on the twelfth play of the drive to cut the Panthers’ lead to 21-7.

The Dragons then proceeded to pull a page out of Sean Payton’s Super Bowl XLIV playbook, as Titus Henderson pulled off an excellent surprise onside kick, which was recovered by Jake Dean to give Pickens possession of the football on the Ridgeland 49.

Given tremendous field position thanks to the onside kick, the Pickens offense needed to put up some points in order to close the gap, but for the fourth time Pickens gave the Panthers the ball back after a disappointing fourth down play.

The Ridgeland offense then took control of the football and prepared to officially put the game out of reach for the Dragons, which they did via an eight play, 64 yard drive that ended with another Panthers touchdown to make it 28-7 with just seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The next Pickens’ possession showed some promise at first, but a sack by the Panthers’ defensive posse bogged down the offense to the point where the team had to punt for the first time all game.

The Dragons then got the ball back following a nice stop on fourth down on its own 17 yard line and moved the ball in a big way on third down thanks to a thirty yard pass from Tanner Brumby to Titus Henderson, but were eventually forced to punt after three plays and a big hit on Tanner Brumby, which led to his exit from the game.

Following another Panthers touchdown, the Dragons took possession and looked to just hold onto the ball for the rest of the game, which they succeeded in doing with Clay Lawson behind center. When the final gun sounded, the Panthers had prevailed 35-7, dropping the Dragons to 2-2 on the season.

Tanner Brumby led the Dragons in passing with 4 completions for 57 yards and finished the game with 14 carries for 57 yards. Leading the team in rushing was Shannon Brooks, who had 19 carries for 80 yards.

Next up for Pickens is a road trip to take on the Cass Colonels, which will be the first region game for the Dragons this year. Cass currently sits at 4-1 and are coming off a 35-7 victory over Dalton.

2012 SEPT PICKENS PHS FOOTB Pickens vs Ridgeland from Fetch on Vimeo.

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