Last Friday, the Pickens High School Dragons football team hosted the arch region rival from up 515, the Gilmer High School Bobcats, in what was one of the most hyped and most important games in the rivalry. The winner would lock up the number two seed in 7-AAAA and host the three seed from 8-AAAA in the first round of the state playoffs. The Dragons warmed up in their normal green jersey’s but when they returned from the locker room they would emerge in all black for the blackout Dragon Nation held, as a surprise to everyone. To top it all off, it was Senior Night, and the Dragons used a second half shut out to take a 42-19 win and lock up a “winner take all” Region 7-AAAA championship game at Cartersville.

Gilmer had the ball first but wouldn’t have it long as a fumble recovery by the Dragons defense gave put Pickens in excellent field possession, the Gilmer 23 yard line, for the first Dragon drive of the game. Three plays later, Zack Herman scored on a 20 yard reverse, to put the Dragons up 7-0 after a Ty Chastain extra point.

Gilmer then narrowed the lead prior to the end of the first quarter but the ensuing extra point was no good, leaving Pickens in front, 7-6, heading to the second quarter. A 14-yd run from senior Shannon Brooks stretched the Dragon lead out to 14-6 with 11:23 left in the first half.

The ensuing Gilmer drive was cut short by Ty Prather, who stripped the Bobcat back and recovered the fumble on the GHS 19 yard line. The offense capitalized, as quarterback Marcus Byrd ran it in for a 14-yd score giving the Dragons a 21-6 lead with 10:41 to go before halftime.

Gilmer responded with a 78 yard scoring drive that was aided by several offsides penalties, that cut the lead to 21-13 with 8:44 left in the first half.

Deondre Green returned the kickoff to midfield; however, a block in the back penalty brought the penalty put Pickens back in the shadow of the Dragon end zone. Pickens picked up a first down but forced to punt. The punt was blocked allowing Gilmer to took over with great field position; however, Pickens’ Prather pounced, with a third down sack that forced a punt.

With 2:42 left in the half, the Pickens picked up possession on the Dragon 14. Byrd busted open for a 60 yard run that put Pickens in excellent field position with two minutes left in the half.

An interception by the Gilmer defense lead to a Bobcat touchdown pass with 10 seconds left on the clock. The Dragons defense held on the Bobcats’ two point conversion attempt tie the game, allowing Pickens to take a halftime lead of 21-19.

Pickens struck again at the 9:45 mark when Shannon Brooks scampered 42 yards out to make it 28-19.

Marcus Byrd added to that lead taking it in from 22 making it 35-19 with 6:37 to go in the 3rd.

Shannon Brooks added another touchdown to make the score 42-19 as we headed to the fourth and final quarter of play.

The Dragon defense, after allowing 19 points in the first half, shut down the Bobcat offense as the final two quarters, getting an interception from Herman and a defensive stop on a last second Gilmer TD attempt to secure keep the Bobcats off the board in the second half.

Pickens won 42-19, giving the Dragons the first win over Gilmer since 2008 and securing a home playoff game for the first time since 2004.

Offensive totals for Pickens: 13 first downs, 4/10 on third down, 2/3 on fourth down, 527 total yards on 58 plays, 519 yards rushing on 56 attepmts and 8 yards passing on 2 attempts

Passing: Marcus Byrd was 1/2 for 8 yards

Rushing: Marcus Byrd 16 carries for 248 yards and 2 touchdowns

Shannon Brooks 24 carries for 193 yards and 3 touchdowns (2,043 on the season)

Chris Pittman 13 carries for 45 yards

Zack Herman 2 carries for 30 yards and a touchdown

Defensively, the Dragons forced three turnovers. 2 fumbles and 1 interception

Kyle West led the Dragons in tackles with 15 total tackles 11 solo and 4 assisted

Senior Ty Prather had 11 total tackles 4 solo and 7 assisted and 1 sack

After the game head coach, Chris Parker spoke about the win.

Next week, the Dragons will travel to Cartersville to take on the Purple Hurricanes in what will be a battle to determine the 7AAAA Region Champion. Both teams are 8-1 on the season Cartersville is 6-0 in region play while Pickens is 5-1. The winner of this game will get the #1 seed and host the #4 seed out of 8AAAA likely to be White County while the #2 seed will host Stephens County. Many outlets have Cartersville ranked in the top ten of the AAAA rankings.

The Dragons are 3rd in AAAA in scoring with 43.1 while Cartersville is right behind them in 4th at 42.6. Cartersville is 3rd in points allowed in AAAA at 9.2 but the Dragons defense isn’t too bad themselves giving up only 20 per game. Both teams are in the top 5 in AAAA in point differential Cartersville is 3rd at 33.4 and Pickens is 5th at 22.5.