Running Game Helps Dragons Beat White County

The Pickens High School Dragons football team traveled to Cleveland, Ga to battle the Warriors of White County. The Dragons burnt the Warriors’ with a 42-34 win in the opening game of the 2014 season.Pickens won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. White Co. would take the ball down the field using, the Ga Tech inspired Triple Option offense, and eventually score on a four yard run, taking a 7-0 lead with 4:52 left in the opening quarter.

Pickens answered back. Quarterback, Marcus Byrd,took it to the house with a 23-yd run. The first quarter ended with the teams deadlocked at seven a piece.

Shannon Brooks gave the Dragons its first lead of the night on a seven yard run making it 14-7 with 9:15 left in the first half. The Warriors would take possession but wouldn’t have it for long as Deondre Green picked off a pass attempt and took it to the one yard line. Afterward, Brooks capped it off with his second touchdown of the ball game giving the Dragons a 21-7 lead with 6:48 remaining in the half.

White Co. regrouped, as a fortunate tip led to a 49-yd touchdown catch and run, cutting the Dragons’ lead to 21-14. The score remained the same throughout the first half.

An exciting second half would begin as the Dragons would have the ball first in the third quarter. The first Dragons’ drive did not last long, due to Brooks third touchdown run of the day, a 79 yard scamper that put Pickens up 14, 28-14, a mere 48 seconds into the second half.

The Warriors responded quickly, with a 67-yd touchdown run that cut into the Dragons lead again. However, a missed PAT would left White Co. down eight, 28-20. Byrd then scored for the second time on a 14-yd run to give his team a 35-20 lead with 8:42 left in the 3rd.

The last quarter saw Brooks score for a fourth time, this time from six yards out to make it 42-20 with 10:40 left in regulation. White Co. would use a penalty aided drive to trim the lead to 42-27 with 4:39 remaining in the ball game.

The Warriors would score yet again with 2:39 to go to make it 42-34. With no timeouts left, the Warriors were unable to stop the clock and the Dragons’ victory formation allowed Pickens to end the ball game and leave Cleveland, Ga with a 42-34 win.

With four touchdowns on the night, Shannon Brooks passed Fred Anderson for most career TDs with 54. Brooks also had 311 yards rushing as well, while Byrd ended his night with 97 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

Deondre Green would had 11 tackles and an INT, Dillon Gasaway also had 11 tackles, and Kalyn Brooks had two sacks on the evening. The Dragons next game is the home opener against the East Hall Vikings Friday, September 5th.

Don’t forget to tune in to the Pickens Power Half Hour on Tuesday night at 7:00pm to hear what Dragons’ head coach, Chris Parker, has to say about the game.

Fannin Promo Final from Fetch on Vimeo.