Dragons go toe to toe with Warriors

Jasper, Ga — It turned into a windy and rainy night on Friday, October 9th as the Pickens Dragons took on the White County Warriors in a battle of teams atop the 6-AAAA standings. The Dragons, came in with a 2-4 overall record and a 1-0 record in region play. The Warriors, came in with a 5-1 overall record and a 1-0 record in region play. The Warriors, would take their first lead of the game with 2:39 left and would hold on to pick up the win, 34-33.

 

The Dragons, would receive the opening kickoff. Ike Wyngaard, would get things going for the Dragons by breaking off a 51 yard run for the house call. The PAT from Toccoa McGraw was good and with 10:51 left in the first quarter, the Dragons led it, 7-0. Later on in the quarter, the Warriors, known for their passing game, used their run game to help set up a 9 yard touchdown pass from Brinn Robinson to Zach Godfrey to tie things up at the 4:39 mark.

The Dragons, would waste no time in reclaiming the lead as Wyngaard, would catch a short kickoff and take it 84 yards for the touchdown. With 4:25 left in the first quarter, Pickens, was back on top, 14-7. The Warriors, would look to answer as they would drive deep into Dragon territory prior to the first quarter coming to an end.

 

White County, would tie the game up after a 1 yard touchdown run by Savion Anderson. With 11:47 left in the first half, we were all knotted up at 14. The man of the night for the Dragons, Wyngaard, would put Pickens back in front with a 21 yard touchdown run. After a defensive stand by the Dragons, Wyngaard, would find the end zone for the fourth time in the first half after a 38 yard touchdown run. The PAT would be blocked. (That would end up coming into play later). Heading into halftime, Pickens led White County, 27-14.

 

In the second half, the rain would start to fall and the wind would pick up from time to time as it had the whole game. The third quarter saw a stalemate until the Warriors would run it in from 4 yards out to cut the Dragon lead to 27-21 heading to the fourth quarter.

 

The Dragons, would extend their lead after Wngaard would break a tackle and March to the end zone from 19 yards out for his fifth total touchdown of the game. The PAT would be blocked for a second time by the Warriors. With 7:54 left to go in the game, Pickens led White County, 33-21. The Warriors, would answer quickly as Robinson would find Jack Clark on a swing route and Clark would take it 72 yards for the score. The PAT was good, and with 7:34 left in the game, the Dragons were up, 33-28.

A nice return on the kickoff would be negated by a penalty on the Dragons. Penalties, would stack up for the Dragons and would push them back to their own 2 yard line. Brock Teal, would be forced to punt from his own end zone. He would get the punt off and the Warriors would fumble the catch and the Dragons would recover. The Warriors, would then force yet another punt attempt by the Dragons.

After waiting a few seconds, Teal, would kick a high booming punt into the air and it would take a Dragon bounce out of bounds near the 2 yard line. On the first play of the drive, Robinson, would find Godfrey, who would break a couple of tackles and score to put the Warriors in front for the first time. White County, would then go for two to try and make it a three point game, but it was no good. With 2:49 left in the game, the Warriors led the Dragons, 34-33.

The Dragons, would get one more shot at trying to tie or win the game. They would come up a little short on a fourth down play and the Warriors would run out the rest of the clock and pick up the win, 34-33.

 

6-AAAA Region Standings:

White County: 6-1 (2-0)

North Hall: 5-2 (2-0)

Gilmer: 4-3 (1-1)

Pickens: 2-5 (1-1)

Dawson: 0-7 (0-2)

Chestatee: 0-7 (0-2)

 

The Dragons, will be off next week for their second bye week. They will be back in action on Friday, October 23rd as they host the North Hall Trojans in another 6-AAAA battle. Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm.