Peachtree Corners, Ga — The first Friday of November was a cold one as the Pickens Dragons made the trip down to Peachtree Corners to take on the Wesleyan Wolves for just the second time ever. While the Wolves had the #2 seed out of 7-AAA locked up coming into the game, the Dragons needed a win and some help from their friends from Gilmer to make it into the playoffs. The Wolves, led by ’24 4-star Syracuse commit, Jamie Tremble, were able to pull away and get the win over the Dragons, 42-20.

 

The Dragons, got the ball first to begin the ball game. After their opening drive stalled, they would be forced to punt. The Wolves, would block the punt and return it to the Dragon 20-yd line. The next play, Wolves QB Ben Brown found Tremble for a 20-yd touchdown. The PAT was good and with 10:31 left in the first quarter, Wesleyan led Pickens, 7-0. The Dragons, saw some success with their second drive of the game as they drove into Wolves territory.

The Dragons, would go for it on fourth down, but would not be able to convert. The Wolves, would add to their lead on their following possession as Brown would keep it and score from 20 yards out. The PAT was good and with 5:35 left in the first quarter, Wesleyan led Pickens, 14-0. The Dragons, got on the board as Senior QB Sam Streicher found the receiving touchdown leader in 3A, McCord Purdy for a 26-yd touchdown. The PAT from Senior Charlie Gibbons was good and they’d head to the second quarter with Wesleyan leading, 14-7.

 

The Wolves, who started their latest drive towards the tail end of the first quarter, found the end zone on the second play of the second quarter as Brown found Tremble for a 9-yd touchdown. The PAT was good and with 11:12 left in the first half, Wesleyan now led, 21-7. The Wolves, added to their lead as Brown tossed the ball to Townes Hardy as Brown was being dragged down for a 2-yd touchdown. The PAT was good and with 3:55 left in the first half, Wesleyan led 28-7.

The Dragons, found the end zone after Streicher hit Landon Poole with the screen pass and Poole broke several tackles and ran 44-yds for the touchdown. The PAT was no good and the two teams would go into the half with Wesleyan leading, 28-13.

 

The Wolves, got the ball first to start the second half. Wesleyan would score on their first possession of the second half as Brown found Tremble for a 53-yd touchdown. The PAT was partially blocked, but just still barely made it through. With 11:08 left in the third quarter, the Wolves led the Dragons, 35-13. The Wolves, would add a 35-yd touchdown near the end of the third quarter as Brown hit Carter Hayes. The PAT was good and as they headed to the fourth, Wesleyan led, 42-13.

 

The lone score in the fourth quarter came from the Dragons as Streicher hit Purdy for a 35-yd touchdown. The PAT was good from Gibbons and that would give us the final score of Wesleyan 42 Pickens 20.

 

Region 7 matches up with region 6 in the first round of the playoffs. The four teams representing region 7 in the AAA football playoffs will be Lumpkin, Wesleyan, White County, and Gilmer. Lumpkin, will host Gordon Lee, Wesleyan will host Ringgold, White County will travel to Bremen, and Gilmer will travel to Adairsville.