The Pickens Dragons found themselves on the losing end of a home region play-in game against the Northwest Whitfield Bruins on Friday night that had playoff implications, as the team played well early but eventually were outscored 33-7 in a disappointing 39-21 defeat that effectively ended the Dragons’ 2013 campaign.
Northwest Whitfield won the opening coin toss and elected to defer to the second half, which meant the Dragons’ offense would hit the field to begin the game. Starting from its own twenty yard line, Pickens struggled to get the ball rolling on the first drive of the game, leading to a quick three-and-out and a punt that was downed on the Bruins’ thirty-seven yard line.

Now with the chance to draw first blood in this contest, the Bruins’ offense took over with seven points on their mind; however, the Dragons’ defense would get the best of Northwest on this series. Pickens allowed only one play that garnered positive yardage and ended the drive with a twelve yard sack by Kalyn Brooks to force a punt after three plays. Given another opportunity to beat up the Bruins’ defense, Pickens finally found a rhythm on this second series, gaining fifty-eight yards on seven plays–six of these plays being carries by Shannon Brooks–that was culminated with a four yard touchdown run by Brooks to put Pickens up 7-0 with 5:52 remaining in the first quarter.

Determined to contain the Bruins once again, the Dragons’ defense took to the field and once again frustrated Northwest Whitfield, forcing a turnover on downs on a heads up play that caused the Bruins to lose fifteen yards on fourth and inches. Now with a chance to go up two scores early in this contest, the Dragons would gain three first downs on the following drive but would ultimately fail to convert on fourth down as well, giving the Bruins the ball on its own fifteen yard line with 11:54 to go in the second period of play.

Northwest Whitfield would make the most out of this chance, as the team would advance eighteen yards and cut into the Dragons’ lead with a 44 yard field goal to make it 7-3 with 10:29 left in the second quarter. Pickens would be unable to sustain the following drive, leading to a three-and-out that was closed out by a punt that gave the Bruins the ball back on their own forty-four yard line.

The Bruins would battle the Dragons and do what it could to hit paydirt, but Pickens successfully kept Northwest Whitfield out of the end zone on this drive. Unwilling to try and convert against a determined Dragons’ defense, Northwest opted to kick a twenty-nine yard field goal to make it a 7-6 game with 7:27 still remaining in the first half.

The Dragons then took the ball on its own twenty-yard line and simply struggled against the Northwest Whitfield defensive line, which gave Pickens problems for the majority of the night and refused to yield many yards to Brooks or any of the other backs. Pickens would have to punt after three plays once again, giving Northwest another shot at scoring before halftime.

Starting on its own forty-one yard line, it seemed like Northwest Whitfield would surely take the lead for the first time on this particular drive, but yet again Pickens would have none of it. Aided by a sack on third down via senior Mathew Devroy that resulted in a seven yard loss, the Dragons forced a three-and-out of its own, showing those in attendance that the visitors from Tunnel Hill were not the only ones who could frustrate opposing offenses.

Pickens then sent its offense back onto the gridiron to start from their own thirty yard line with 4:10 left in the second quarter on a drive that would be extended with an impressive twelve yard run by Brooks on third and seven. Unfortunately, this carry would be the highlight of this possession, and just four plays later the Dragons would have to send the punt unit back onto the field.

With 1:48 remaining in the quarter, it was not very clear how the Bruins would approach the rest of the first half: would the team play it safe and make the most out of starting the third quarter with the ball, or would they try to score before the half and put Pickens in a bind? The Bruins opted to try the latter approach, which led to a reckless throw on first down and a timely interception by Clay Lawson, who would return the pick all the way to the Bruins’ twenty-two yard line. Desperately needing to make Northwest pay for its indiscretions, Pickens attempted to utilize its dangerous running game but were simply unable to get it going, leading to instead attempting passes on third and fourth down that would both fall incomplete. Now down to just thirty-six ticks left on the clock, the Bruins opted to take a knee and go into the locker room trailing the Dragons by the score of 7-6.

The Bruins would open the second half of play with the ball and would once again be controlled by the Dragons, who would give up just six yards of offense on three yards before forcing another Bruins’ punt. Unfortunately, the Dragons’ offense would not be able to do much more than their opposition, which led another punt with 9:16 left in the third quarter.

Eager to make something happen, the Dragons’ defense truly aided its offense on the first play of the Bruins’ next drive, as Kyle West recovered a Bruins’ fumble on the Northwest 32 yard line to give Pickens prime field position. Pickens would make Northwest Whitfield regret making such a mistake, as the Dragons put together a seven-play, thirty-two yard drive that ended on a one yard touchdown run by Brooks and a 14-6 advantage for the Dragons with 6:26 left in the third quarter.

Northwest Whitfield would finally figure things out on its next drive, putting together its own scoring drive of the four-play, sixty-four yard variety that ended on a seven yard touchdown pass to make it 14-12 (the two point conversion attempt was no good) with 5:03 remaining in the third. Pickens would be unable to respond immediately to the score, struggling once again to establish the running game and instead be forced to punt the ball back to the Bruins with 3:06 remaining in the third.

The Bruins appeared to have figured out the Dragons’ weaknesses at this point in the game, as the visiting team then responded with a five-yard drive that included three first downs and another touchdown pass to extended Northwest’s lead to 18-14 with 1:51 to go in the third quarter.

Still in contention with more than a quarter remaining in play, Pickens did all it could on the next drive to hit a spark, but it would backfire, as Northwest Whitfield’s Cameron Heard would intercept Tanner Brumby’s pass on third and nine and return it to the Dragons’ seventeen yard line. The Bruins would waste no time in scoring off this turnover, creating a 25-14 ballgame thanks to another touchdown pass from Caleb Shiflett to Andy Whisenant, this one being a nineteen yard connection with 0:38 left in the third quarter.

Now desperately needing a scoring drive to keep this contest close, the Dragons would start their next drive on their own thirty-one yard line with hopes of making some big plays. Pickens struggled right off the bat with two consecutive false starts penalties, and although the offense did what it could on this possession, the Bruins were just too overbearing, forcing another Pickens punt with 10:58 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Intent on putting this game away, the Bruins’ offense hit the field and once again kept things moving right along, scoring on a twenty-seven yard touchdown pass from Shiflett to Jacob Webb that gave the Bruins a 32-14 lead with just 9:39 left in the final quarter. Still seemingly in shock from seeing their playoff chances significantly weakened, the Dragons were once again unable to respond offensively, leading to another three-and-out that sent the ball back to the Bruins with just 7:58 left in the game.

Northwest would continue to take advantage of a tiring Pickens defensive unit, eventually gaining sixty-four yards on just three plays and scoring on a fifty-seven yard touchdown pass from Shiflett to Tevin McDaniel, making it 39-14 with 6:25 remaining in the game. Still unwilling to give up without a fight, the Dragons’ offense would muster up a little more of the magic that marked the first half of the game and create one last scoring drive in the season, this one being a ten-play, eighty yard drive that ended on a eight yard rushing touchdown by Tanner Brumby, cutting the score to 39-21 with 2:41 left.

The Bruins would then take its next possession and work to kill the rest of the clock, leaving Pickens with just thirty-five seconds to work with once it took over on its own thirty-one yard line. The Dragons found some success by running senior running back Jake Coleman who started the drive with two runs totaling nineteen yards, but the final carry would be the last of the game and, unfortunately, the last for Pickens in 2013. The Dragons would lose the game 39-21, ending any hope of going to the playoffs.

The yardage comparisons tell the tale in this matchup, as the Dragons wound up gaining 303 yards–274 rushing and 29 passing–compared to the Bruins’ 412 yards (281 passing yards and 131 rushing yards).

Tanner Brumby had trouble in the passing game in his final high school start, completing just three passes for 29 yards. However, Brumby used his athleticism to his advantage when it came to running the football, tallying 13 rushes for 40 yards and one touchdown.

Shannon Brooks showed off his awesome ability at carrying the rock for the last time in 2013, taking 34 carries for 167 yards and 2 TDs. Brooks finished the season with a school-record 1,696 yards and tied Fred Anderson for touchdowns in a season with 20, leaving all Dragons fans anxious to see what the talented tailback is able to accomplish next season.

Dragons linebacker Thomas Howard came into this game just eight tackles away from setting a new school record of tackles in a single season (formerly held by Eddie Blakenship with 162) and eventually set the record in the third quarter, finishing the game with 14 tackles and a grand total of 169 tackles on the year. Prior to the contest it was stated that Howard led all Georgia classifications in tackles, which is certainly a commendable accomplishment for the senior.

The loss to the Bruins gives the Dragons a 6-4 final record, which gives Pickens its first winning season since 2006 and marks the first time the team posted back-to-back non-losing records since 2005-2006. While missing the playoffs was certainly disappointing, it appears that the Dragons will continue progressing forward and will definitely be a threat to win the sub-region come 2014.