Pickens Slams Sonoraville 47-0 in Season Opener

The Pickens Dragons had no problem taking care of business in their 2013 season opener on Friday night, as the team utilized a tremendous second quarter in order to blowout the Sonoraville Phoenix in what would prove to be a 47-0 shutout, the Dragons’ first shutout in a season opener since 2006.The Dragons started the outing by winning the opening coin toss and electing to receive, which result in the Pickens’ offense taking possession on their own forty yard line. Pickens stalled out on this opening drive and looked prepared to punt the ball to the Phoenix, but the Dragons had other things in mind, as quarterback/punter Tanner Brumby hit Kyle West for a nineteen yard reception that gave Pickens a first down.

Greatly aided by this risky play, Pickens continued to pound the ball, fighting their way to the one yard line where Brumby would ultimately take a snap and push through the line of defenders, giving Pickens a 6-0 advantage with 9:18 remaining in the first quarter.

Following a drive in which the Phoenix quickly went three-and-out, the Dragons were assisted when a botched snap occurred, which helped give the Dragons the ball in enemy territory. Despite the excellent field position, this drive proved to be the Dragons’ worst all night, as penalties along with a tremendous amount of defensive pressure on Brumby resulted in a drive that saw Pickens lose ten yards and end on a fourth down pass that fell incomplete.

The Pickens’ defense once again stood tall against the Phoenix on Sonoraville’s next possession, holding the away squad to just four yards on three plays and forcing the Phoenix to punt again. The Dragons took advantage of the solid punt return by Zack Hermann and made several big plays on this drive, which ended with a twenty-seven yard touchdown run by Shannon Brooks to give Pickens a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

Another Sonoraville drive that stalled out after three plays meant Tanner Brumby & Company would take the field yet again, this time starting from their own twenty-nine yard line with 3:15 remaining in the opening period of play. Despite being deep in their own territory, the offense had no trouble finding paydirt once again, as Brumby called his own number on a fifty-nine yard scramble that ended once the senior quarterback reached the endzone, giving the Dragons a commanding 20-0 lead.

Despite the understood sense of urgency for Sonoraville, the Dragons’ defense refused to give in, which led to yet another three-and-out by the Phoenix. The resulting drive for Pickens had some promise in part due to a twelve yard reception by Shannon Brooks, but ultimately ended on an incomplete pass on fourth down.

The Sonoraville offense found themselves unable to pass the first down marker once again, which resulted in a punt that Ty Prather would return to the Sonoraville thirty-three yard line. Given excellent field position once again, the Dragons were able to show off their air attack, as Brumby connected with wide receiver Jake Dean, who made an outstanding catch in the end zone for a thirty-three yard touchdown to make it a 28-0 game.

The next Sonoraville possession saw the Phoenix move the ball a bit and have a chance to make some noise, but a fake punt on fourth down saw the Dragons drop Sonoraville for a four yard loss. Pickens was able to make the most out of their next drive thanks to another big play by Brooks, who took a handoff on third and sixteen and proceeded to leave the Phoenix defenders in a cloud of dust on what would be a forty-eight yard touchdown, increasing the Dragons’ lead to 34-0 with 7:58 remaining in the first half.

The Brooks family would continue to make plays, as Shannon’s brother Kalyn Brooks would recover a fumble on Sonoraville’s next possession to give the Dragons the ball back on the Phoenix thirty-five. The Dragons would need only two plays to score on this drive, as on second and nine Brumby hit Marcus Byrd for a thirty-four yard touchdown, putting Pickens up 41-0 with 7:10 left on the clock.

Another Phoenix three-and-out gave the Dragons the ball on their own thirty-two with 5:56 remaining in the second quarter, meaning the home team would have plenty of time to put together another touchdown drive. This is exactly what they did, as they ran seven plays and gained sixty-eight yards and scored on a one yard run by Justin Hamrick, pushing the score to 47-0 with 3:09 remaining in the first half.

The next Phoenix possession saw Sonoraville run four plays then punt again, giving the Dragons the ball back with just fifty seconds. With a comfortable lead and a heavy fog moving in that would plague the spectators for the remainder of the game, Pickens elected to run out the remainder of the clock and head into the locker room with a forty-seven point advantage.

While those in attendance may have been unaware of it due to the aforementioned fog, the remainder of the game saw the Dragons work with some of their second stringers in order to prepare them for the season that is to come, and although no more points appeared on the scoreboard in the third or fourth quarter, it was clear that the Dragons who took the field in the second half would greatly benefit from their time in the game.

When it was all said and done, the Dragons had defeated the Phoenix 47-0 to start the 2013 season with a 1-0 record.

Tanner Brumby started his senior season off right on Friday night, completing six passes for 124 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Brumby also did his part when it came to running, taking 9 carries for 84 yards and two touchdowns.

Shannon Brooks showed once again why he is a defense’s worst nightmare yet again, taking seven carries for 92 yards and two touchdowns. Fellow running back Jake Coleman had an impressive game as well, taking six carries for 67 yards in the victory.

The Dragons ended the game with a total of 404 yards of offense, with 119 yards coming through the air and 284 coming on the ground. In all, Pickens scored seven touchdowns in the contest: two coming via passes and the remaining five coming via the running attack.

Dragons head coach Chris Parker seemed pleased with his team’s effort following the game’s conclusion, saying

“It was a weird game. We scored on some big plays and got up early on (Sonoraville)…but we will take something away from it: we’re 1-0. It’s nice to be 1-0 when the alternative is 0-1. It was nice to get the win. We’ve got a couple of good players that made some good plays, and we’re going to have to have some other guys step up and [us] coach them a little better if we’re going to get to 2-0.”

The Dragons follow the victory over the Phoenix with a bye week, as the team has the week off before facing off with Northwest Whitfield on September 13th in Tunnel Hill.

Although the week to prepare for the battle with the Bruins, who beat the Dragons 20-7 and went 6-4 in 2012, will be advantageous for Pickens, Coach Parker explained that the advantage is limited because

“[Northwest Whitfield] has a bye, too. I guess that’s the only negative. We both have two weeks to get ready for each other, so I don’t think there’s an advantage scheme-wise. They do a great job and have some good coaches. [The bye week] gives us a chance to regroup and a few extra practices before we have to step on the field again.”