Dragons Demolish Generals, Hand Heritage a 42-0 Defeat

The Pickens Dragons overcame a slow start and took care of business at home on Friday night, scoring twenty-eight points in the second quarter in what would prove to be a 42-0 victory over the Heritage Generals to push Pickens’ record to 2-1 on the season.Pickens won the opening coin toss and elected to receive to start the game, giving the Dragons a chance to draw first blood in the ballgame. The Dragons looked poise to do just that, advancing from their own thirty-five yard line to the Generals’ twenty-yard line in just six plays.

Pickens then appeared to take their first lead of the game on the seventh play of the drive on a well-designed trick play, as quarterback Tanner Brumby left his spot in the shotgun formation in what appeared to be a state of confusion, moved in motion to the left, and caught a pass from running back Shannon Brooks for what looked to be a twenty yard touchdown; Unfortunately, the play was called back apparently for an illegal motion on Brumby’s part.

With the seven points taken off the board, the Dragons did what they could to re-connect with the end zone, but an incomplete pass from the Heritage nineteen yard line on fourth down resulted in a tough turnover on downs. Although the offense just missed finishing their first time on the field with points, the Dragons’ defense had an outstanding start to the game, forcing a quick three and out.

An excellent punt return by sophomore Zack Hermann gave the Dragons the ball back on the Heritage forty-three yard line, prime field position for some points with 6:48 remaining in the first quarter. Despite several big plays, including a nice nine yard connection with Brumby and Brooks, this drive ended in an almost identical fashion as the first series of the game, as another pass on fourth down fell harmlessly to the ground.

The Generals now had a shot to break open the deadlocked game, but once again the Dragons’ defense would have no part in a long Heritage drive, and after six plays forced another punt. This would lead to arguably the play of the game for Pickens, as Hermann took the punt on the bounce on the Dragons’ seventeen yard line and proceeded to run up the sidelines for an 83 yard touchdown, giving Pickens a 7-0 lead with 1:28 remaining in the opening quarter.

Down seven points on the road, the Generals did what they could to try and re-take the momentum on the next possession but things turned ugly quickly, as Dragons’ defender Kayln Brooks stripped the ball from Heritage and recovered it on the Generals’ nineteen yard line. The Dragons’ offense made sure to take advantage of the heads up play by Brooks and did just that on the fourth play of the drive, as Jake Dean took the ball on a sweep to the left and sprinted for a ten yard touchdown to make it 14-0 with 10:28 remaining in the second quarter.

Another quick three-and-out by the Heritage offense brought about Pickens next possession of the contest, which began on their own forty-one yard line with 8:38 remaining in the second quarter. With the offense already in a very impressive rhythm in the game, this drive would see the Dragons continue making all the right moves, as the offense put together a five-play, fifty-nine yard drive that ended on an 18 yard rushing touchdown by Tanner Brumby, pushing Pickens ahead 21-0 with 7:07 remaining in the first half.

Yet another three-and-out forced by the Pickens defense gave the Dragons’ offense the ball back on their own forty-four yard line with a little over five minutes remaining in the first half, giving Tanner Brumby and Co. plenty of time to drive down and add onto their already comfortable lead. That’s exactly what the unit did, overcoming a false start penalty on third down and following it up with a forty yard rushing touchdown by Brumby, his second of the game.

With the score now 28-0, the Generals took the field once again and struggled once again at sustaining a drive, leading to their fifth punt in the first half alone. Already up four touchdowns in the game, the Dragons’ offense was still not done making plays, as the second play of the series saw Tanner Brumby connect on a short pass to Shannon Brooks, who then proceeded to cut through the Generals’ defenders with an impressive amount of precision on his way to a 70 yard touchdown and a 35-0 advantage for the Dragons with 1:24 left in the second period.

Struggling and in a considerable deficit, the Generals opted to run out the rest of the clock, which meant the Dragons would hold a five touchdown lead at halftime.

The Generals started the third quarter with possession and hope to turn things around and make some noise against the stout Pickens’ defense, but it was not meant to be on this opening possession of the second half, as once again Heritage was forced into a three-and-out that saw the team gain a grand total of three yards.

Up by a considerable amount with a running game clock, the Dragons opted to sit several of their offensive starters for the second half, which resulted in sophomore Marcus Byrd stepping up behind center. The first series with Byrd as the signal-caller had potential but ended after three plays, which resulted in Byrd sending off a beautiful punt that stopped on the Generals’ twelve yard line.

Buried deep in their own territory, the Generals worked to dig themselves out of a hole but were yet again unable to get rolling, leading to yet another three-and-out that gave the Dragons the ball on their own thirty-six with close to 3:20 left in the third. Determined to make the most of their playing time, the Dragons’ offense came back on the field and once again made some good plays, but after six plays were forced to give the ball back to Heritage on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Another Heritage drive that ended with a punt by the Generals meant it was the Dragons’ ball on the Heritage forty-five with 8:00 remaining in the game. Despite a tough false start to start this series, the Dragons showed some of the same success that highlighted the first half of play, gaining fifty yards on six plays and adding seven more points to the scoreboard on a one yard touchdown run by Byrd, making it 42-0 with 4:15 remaining in the fourth.

Running out of time and opportunities, the Generals took the resulting kickoff to their own twenty-eight and hoped for some positive plays, but unfortunately it just was not their night, as the first play of the new drive saw Dragons’ linebacker Thomas Howard force a fumble and recover the football on the Heritage 15.

The Dragons then opted to run out the rest of the clock and provide the camouflage clad student section with an impressive 42-0 shutout victory over the Generals, their second shutout win in two games this year.

The Dragons’ offense could do no wrong against Heritage, and they ended the game with a grand total of 354 yards (248 rushing and 106 passing). As impressive as the offense’s play was, the Dragons’ defense was downright suffocating, allowing a net total of 15 yards (5 in the first half) and a single first down in the entire four quarters, which resulted from a penalty called for a helmet-to-helmet hit.

Quarterback Tanner Brumby was a bit shaky throwing the ball to start the game but eventually found a rhythm, completing four passes for 100 yards and a touchdown. Brumby had no problem whatsoever running the ball, taking 6 carries for 72 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Running back Shannon Brooks merely added to his résumé of highlights, finishing the victory with 8 carries for 88 yards as well as two receptions for 79 yards and one touchdown.

Pickens Dragons head coach Chris Parker reflected on the team’s victory, saying

“It’s important to get a win. It was a tougher win than it might look like on the scoreboard; they played us pretty tough early as far as their defense against our offense. I thought our defense played phenomenal and held them to very limited yards and first downs. [This game] gave us some opportunities to try some different things offensively; some of them worked and some of them didn’t. We’ve got some good players on offense and they put the ball in the end zone a couple of times. Made me look like a good coach.”

The victory is now the second shutout for the Dragons in three games, giving Pickens its most shutouts in an entire season since 1990, when the team had a grand total of five games with no points allowed and ended the season with an 8-2 record.

Pickens now sits at 2-1 on the 2013 season with a huge test coming this Friday, as they travel to Rossville to take on the Ridgeland Panthers. Desperately trying to find playmakers now that defensive back Vonn Bell (Ohio State) and running back Darrell Bridges (Presbyterian) are gone, the Panthers have had some hard times so far this season, as they sit at 1-2 and will be fresh off a 36-14 loss to Cedartown. However, it is understood that the Panthers will still be a viable threat to Pickens.

Coach Parker also made it clear how dangerous a team the Panthers are, stating that

“They were the second best team in the state of Georgia last year. I know they lost some of those guys, but they’ve got a lot of good players too and they’ve got a lot of confidence. They are a team that expects to win, and what we’re trying to do is get to a point where we expect to win those games. We’re not there yet, but we’re trying, and that’s a great measuring stick to see where we are.”

PickensvsHeritageHighlights from Fetch on Vimeo.