Jasper, Ga — With the 2022 football season seemingly around the corner, teams around our area and the entire state of Georgia are releasing their schedules for the upcoming season. On Friday, January 14th, the Pickens Dragons football team revealed their schedule and it looks to be an exciting one for Dragon fans. The schedule is littered with new match ups, some renewed older match ups, and a new slate of region opponents. Let us take a look at this schedule shall we.

On May 20th, the Dragons will conclude spring practice with a home scrimmage  game against the Dalton Catamounts. Some of you might remember that Pickens and Dalton, were once in the same region. Dalton has since moved on to 6A. The Catamounts finished the 2021 season at 2-8, but they will be a good, early challenge for the Dragons to go up against.

On August 12th, the Dragons will host a fall scrimmage as Rockmart will come to Jasper for the final tune up before the regular season. The Yellow Jackets, have been a very good, and very consistent football team over the last several years. Rockmart finished 2021 at 9-2 overall and won their region (6-AAA) with an undefeated 8-0 record. A big test for the Dragons right before the regular season kicks off.

The Dragons, will be road warriors early on in the 2022 season as their first three games will be away from Dragons Stadium. The first game, the Dragons will travel to Calhoun to take on the Sonoraville Phoenix on August 19th. Sonoraville, is actually taking the place of Pickens and Ridgeland next season in 7-AAAA as the Dragons bump down to 7-AAA, and the Panthers bumped down to 6-AAA. As for the Phoenix, they finished 2021 with a 6-4 record and a 4-4 record in 6-AAA. A tough game for the Dragons to officially start 2022 as Sonoraville picked up wins over an up and coming LaFayette team, and shut a Fannin team that has won it’s region in back to back years out.

On August 26th, the Dragons will head north again. This time, to North Murray. North Murray, is another one of those region 6-AAA schools that finished the year over .500 as they went 7-4 (5-3). The Mountaineers, will have a talented quarterback and a good set of receivers coming back so again, another tough challenge for the Dragons on the road.

On September 2nd, the road trip to begin the season concludes as the Dragons head to Blue Ridge to take on the Fannin Rebels. These two teams, despite seemingly playing each other in every sport, haven’t played one another on the football field since 2010. Everyone in our area knows about the recent success of the Rebels. A region championship in and a deep playoff run in 2020, another region championship in 2021. One thing’s for sure, both sides of the stands will be packed for this one.

The Dragons, will have a bye week on September 9th, as they will prepare for their final non-region game and their official home opener of the 2022 season as they take on the Christian Heritage Lions on September 16th. The Lions, went 4-7 in 2021, but finished Single-A Private region 7 at 2-2. Good enough for 3rd place. With it being the first home game of the season, you know the Dragons will be fired up for this one.

On September 23rd, the Dragons will once again be on the road to start 7-AAA play as they face an opponent they haven’t seen in a while in the Lumpkin County Indians. The last time these two met on the football field was way back in 2009. Pickens leads the series, 19-18-1, but the Indians have won three straight in the series. The Indians, have seen their share of tough times over the past couple of seasons, but they have a new head coach and some young players on the team looking to make an impact.

After a second bye week, the Dragons will go back on the road again as they head to Dawsonville to take on the Dawson County Tigers on October 7th. These two teams have scrimmaged each other in the last couple of years, but the last regular season game that took place between these schools was back in 2011. Pickens leads the series 7-1 all time. The Tigers did win the last regular season match up in 2011. Dawson, is another team that has been good and consistent for multiple years. The Tigers went 7-5 overall and 5-1 in 7-AAA play in 2021. Dawson even knocked off Sandy Creek in the playoffs last season. This one, will surely be one to watch.

On October 14th, the Dragons will host the Gilmer Bobcats. For the first time in a couple of years, it will be a region game. These two teams did not play each other in 2021 due to covid issues. The Bobcats lead the all time series 35-27-1. Pickens has won the last seven meetings dating back to 2014. Gilmer seems to have found a steady direction under head coach Paul Standard. You might not think it by seeing a 3-7 overall record and a 1-5 record in 7-AAA play in 2021 but, the Bobcats competed and took teams to the limit the majority of the season last year. With two rivals who haven’t played each other since 2020, this game will be an exciting one.

The Dragons go back on the road on October 21st as they take on the West Hall Spartans. These two teams did scrimmage recently, but their last regular season game took place in 2009. The Spartans lead the all time series, 6-4. Pickens did win the last meeting in 2009. West Hall, is another one of those teams that could be an up and coming team in the new season. The Spartans went 4-6 overall and 1-5 in 7-AAA play in 2021.

October 28th sees the Dragons welcome a team they have been very familiar with over the past couple of years, the White County Warriors. These two teams, are no strangers to one another meeting at least one time in the regular season and/or postseason since 2018. The Warriors lead the all time series 25-20-2. Pickens will look to right the ship against the Warriors as they have dropped the last three games against them. White County went 4-7 overall and 3-3 in 7-AAA play in 2021.

The Dragons end the regular season at home on November 4th as they host the Wesleyan Wolves. Wesleyan, is making the jump from Single-A Private, all the way to 3A after the GHSA decided to split up Single-A Public and Private. These two schools have no prior meetings on the football field. Wesleyan went 8-4 overall and 3-1 in A-Private region 5 in 2021.

All in all, this is a really good schedule for the Pickens Dragons. The spring and fall scrimmages will present challenges to the Dragons to help them prepare for the regular season. The non-region schedule is a good mix of teams to help get ready for region play. 7-AAA will give us games in the regular season we haven’t seen in a while like Lumpkin, Dawson, and West Hall. It rekindles and adds even more meaning to a rival game with Gilmer now that they are in the same region again. It gives us a chance to see how Wesleyan does going from Single-A Private to 3A. With the Dragons barely missing out on a playoff spot last season, I can definitely see them making that leap back into the playoffs and maybe even competing for a home playoff game.