Pickens Holds off Johnson, Slay Knights 21-14

The Pickens Dragons avoided its third straight loss on Friday night, using a great 99 yard fumble recovery by Kyle West in the third quarter and a stop by the defense late in the fourth quarter to prevail over the Johnson Knights by the final score of 21-14.Pickens won the opening coin toss of the contest and elected to receive, giving the Dragons’ offense the chance to go up against a Knights’ defense that had given up close to thirty-five points per game in 2013. The Dragons’ first possession of the game showed a good bit of promise but was derailed due to a false start penalty. Pickens continued to fight to move the ball and opted to go for it on fourth down from the Johnson thirty-nine yard line, but came up short of the marker.

The Knights then took over and immediately began attacking the Dragons’ defense with its dangerous triple-option offense, which bit Pickens early on to the tune of thirty-eight yards on just four plays. However, the Dragons would soon capitalize on a Johnson mistake, as defender Andrew Ortiz saw the Knights fumble the football and immediately fell upon it, giving Pickens possession on its own twenty yard line with 6:41 remaining in the first quarter.

As impressive as the recovery was for the Dragons, Johnson would mimic such a recovery just two plays later, giving the Knights the ball back on the Pickens nineteen yard line. With just nineteen yards separating the opposing offense from an early lead, the Pickens defense did its part to limit the damage done by the turnover, holding Johnson to just four yards on three offensive plays. The Knights then elected to attempt a thirty-three yard field goal, but the kick was wide right, effectively bailing out the Dragons.

Now with an opportunity to draw first blood, Pickens took over on the twenty yard line and had very little issue against the Knights’ defense, racking up eighty yards on thirteen plays–including an excellent thirteen yard run by quarterback Tanner Brumby on third and ten–and scoring on a seven yard touchdown pass from Brumby to Carey Cunningham, putting Pickens up 7-0 with 1:17 remaining in the first quarter.

Johnson then took the ball from its own twenty-seven yard line and found it difficult to run against the tough-nosed Dragons’ defense, and after five plays and fourteen yards the team was forced to send its punt unit back onto the field. Aided by a nice return from Zack Hermann, the Dragons offense hit the field with just fifty-eight yards standing between them and another score. Unfortunately, the Knight’s defense would force another turnover, this one via an interception by linebacker Jamison Owen, who was quickly tackled on the Johnson thirty-two yard line.

Anxious to come back out and make the most out of the Dragons’ turnover, the Knights’ offense hit the field and did what it could to put points on the board, but once again Pickens stood tall on defense, giving up just eleven yards on five plays before forcing another Johnson punt. Taking over on its own twenty-five yard line with 4:27 remaining in the half, Pickens seemed ready to rally the troops and march down the field; however, the Knights’ defense would take advantage of another miscue by the Dragons, as defensive back Orion Pittman intercepted a pass on the Knight’s forty-one yard line.

Johnson would benefit from this interception, as this would lead to a nine-play, fifty-nine yard drive that culminated in an impressive eighteen yard touchdown pass from Chase Sims to Luis Hernandez, which cut the Dragons’ lead to 7-6 with just 0:39 remaining in the second quarter (The Knights’ extra point attempt was no good).

The Dragons attempted to score quickly before the half thanks to a heads-up return by Zack Hermann that put Pickens in Johnson territory, but once again Pittman would have no part of it, making his second interception of the game with just five seconds remaining in the half. The Knights attempted to throw a Hail Mary before halftime, but Sims would be sacked by Silas Lott for an eight yard loss, allowing the Dragons to head to the locker room with a slim 7-6 lead.

Following the intermission, the Knights started the third quarter with the ball on its own thirty-five yard line. This drive would be the most critical and easily the most controversial, as Johnson began methodically picking apart Pickens in an eleven play, sixty-five yard drive that saw the Knights reach the Dragons’ one-yard line.

Now just one yard away from taking the lead, Johnson opted to run a quarterback sneak with Sims, who then proceeded to place the ball over the line in an attempt to break the goal line for a score. As Sims reached for the line, Dragons’ defender Kyle West stripped the ball from Sims, recovered it in the end zone, and took off for what would be a 99 yard touchdown. It was unclear during the play what exactly had happened because it appeared to most in attendance that Sims had indeed broke the plane for a Knights’ touchdown, but much to the chagrin of Johnson head coach Jason Roquemore it was ruled a touchdown for Pickens, giving the Dragons a 14-6 lead with 5:27 left in the third quarter.

Obviously shocked after the big play by West, the Knights’ offense returned to the gridiron determined to even the score at two touchdowns apiece. Johnson then went on a remarkable drive that would last the rest of the rest of the third quarter and a few seconds of the fourth quarter (The Pickens offense did not run a single play in the third quarter) as part of a eleven-play, eighty yard drive that would end on a four yard run by Hernandez, who was definitely Johnson’s workhorse in this contest. The Knights then successfully converted the two point attempt, leaving the game at a 14-14 deadlock with 11:51 remaining in the fourth.

Rejuvenated following what amounts to having an entire quarter off, the Dragons’ offense hit the field with 11:38 left in the quarter with the ball at midfield thanks to a heads up play by the Pickens kick return team, which reacted quickly to the Knight’s sneaky onside kick attempt and recovered the ball before Johnson was able to. Pickens would proceed to pick up three first downs and fifty yards on this drive, which ended on a seven yard touchdown run by Tanner Brumby that gave the Dragons a 21-14 lead with 8:52 remaining in the fourth.

Johnson’s offense made the next possession incredibly difficult for Pickens, as their methodical approach of gaining five or six yards each play had the potential to eat up a tremendous amount of clock, leaving the Dragons with very little time to respond if the Knights scored. Initially, it looked like this possibility would not come to fruition, as the Pickens defense would stand tall and force a punt after just five plays.

With 5:18 remaining in regulation and ninety yards in front of them, the goal of the Dragons’ offense on the next possession was simple: run the clock down to hurt Johnson’s chances. This is exactly what Pickens accomplished, as the team slowly ran three plays and effectively took off one minute and fifty-four seconds off the clock before the punting the ball back to the Knights with 3:24 left in the game.

Starting from its forty-three yard line with a minimal amount of time to work with, the Knights’ offense hit the field in desperation for some points. The team’s chances looked decent early on in this drive thanks to a three yard run on a fourth and one and a crucial defensive pass interference call that gave the Knights the ball on the Dragons’ thirty-two yard line, leaving the Pickens defense with very little room behind them. Backed against the wall, the Dragons got the job done following the pass interference call, as Johnson failed to gain a single yard in the next four plays and ultimately turned the ball over on downs on an incomplete pass on fourth and ten. Tanner Brumby then proceeded to take a knee to run out the rest of the time, allowing the Dragons to leave Gainesville with a 21-14 victory.

Despite not having the ball at all in the third period of play, the Dragons still kept the pace statistically with the Knights, as Johnson finished the game with 270 yards (236 rushing and 34 passing) and Pickens tallied 242 yards (191 rushing yards and 73 passing yards). The main factor that kept this contest close was turnovers: The Dragons finished the game with four turnovers, while the Knights only coughed the ball up twice.

Despite a tough first half, Tanner Brumby rebounded to help the Dragons grab the victory, taking six carries for 51 yards and what would be the game-deciding touchdown. Brumby also had six completions and one touchdown pass.

Shannon Brooks did what he could despite some good play by the Knights’ defensive line, taking 20 carries for 92 yards. Brooks also had one reception for twenty-six yards.

Dragons head coach Chris Parker was content with the outcome of this contest, saying

“All the wins count the same. We’re glad to win, but we’re not happy with some of the effort, and we’re going to address that on Monday. I learned a long time ago that it’s better to win ugly than lose pretty, so it’s nice to get a win, but we’ll have to play better next week if we want to get a win.”

The Dragons are now 5-3 on the season, which at the very least guarantees the team its first back-to-back non-losing seasons since 2005 (7-4) and 2006 (7-3). Next up for Pickens is a crucial sub-region matchup with the River Ridge Knights, which will be played in Woodstock. The Knights are 1-7 this season, including a 37-13 loss to the Gilmer Bobcats on Friday night.