PHS Wrestling finishes 3rd in 7-AAAA, Sends 8 to State
PHS Wrestling, Team FYN Sports February 8, 2021
Pickens County, Ga — Pickens High School was the center of the 7-AAAA wrestling world on Saturday, February 6th as teams from all seven schools arrived to try to win a region title as a team, but send individual wrestlers to the 4A State Tournament as well. It was a productive tournament for the hosts, the Pickens Dragons as they placed 3rd in the overall region standings. The Dragons also made a little history on Saturday sending a school record 8 wrestlers to the state tournament. Here are the finishes for the 8 Dragon wrestlers that punched their ticket to state:
1st: C.J. Murphy
2nd: Andrew Burrell
2nd: Julian Jacobs
2nd: Zak Price
3rd: Chris Knight
3rd: Dylan Gonzalez
3rd: Wesley Sultan
3rd: Kaleb Nicholson
4th: Eli Rittenberry
4th: Mason Powell
1st through 3rd place finishers will compete this week (February 9th-13th) in Macon in the 4A State Tournament. The GHSA will have the brackets posted soon.
Dragons fall in tough region opener
PHS Football, Team FYN Sports October 17, 2020
Cedartown, Ga — On October 16th, the Pickens Dragons made one of the longer trips of the season to Polk County where they met the Cedartown Bulldogs to start 7-AAAA play. These two teams have met 6 times previously with the last meeting coming in 2013. The last time Pickens came to Cedartown in 2012, they came away with the win in a game that featured former University of Minnesota and Dragon great Shannon Brooks along with former University of Georgia standout and current Cleveland Browns running back, Nick Chub
The Dragons won the toss and elected to receive to begin the ball game. Pickens came out with a a strategy of using a quick pass game plan as Cedartown was bringing pressure early. The Dragons went for it on 4th down near midfield and appeared to make the line to gain, but it was ruled short and the Bulldogs took over. On their opening possession, Cedartown would also be faced with a go for it on 4th down situation. They chose to go for it and the Dragon defense stood tall and held them. Just before the end of the first quarter, things got a little wacky. After forcing the Bulldogs to punt, the Dragons reached into their bag of tricks and pulled out the old double pass play. Sam Streicher hit Jarod Whitmore who then connected with a wide open Andrew Burrell for a 56-yd touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The Dragons had more surprises for Cedartown as they then went for an onside and recovered. Going to the second quarter, Pickens led the Bulldogs 7-0.
Dragons driving to begin the game
The Dragons had possession of the ball to start the second quarter after executing an onside kick just before the end of the first. Pickens got a long run from Whitmore, who then capped off the drive with a 1-yd touchdown run to make it 14-0 with 10:22 left in the first half. The Bulldogs got on the board for the first time at the 7 minute mark of the second quarter with a 3-yd touchdown run to make it 14-7 Dragons. Just before the end of the first half, Cedartown got on the board again. This time with a 10-yd touchdown pass. The PAT was no good however and the Dragons headed into halftime with a 14-13 lead over the Bulldogs.
Jarod Whitmore scores to make it 14-0 Dragons
In the third quarter, Cedartown took advantage of some miscues by the Dragons and turned those miscues into touchdowns. The Bulldogs scored three times off of turnovers to take the lead over Pickens going to the fourth, 31-14.
The Dragons defense fought hard against Cedartown
In the fourth quarter, Cedartown added to their lead with touchdown runs of 84, 11, and 35 yards. Pickens ended the ball game with something positive as Streicher found Tom Frechette in the corner of the end zone for a 14-yd touchdown pass. Final from Cedartown: Bulldogs 52 Dragons 21.
7-AAAA Standings
Central Carroll: 4-1 (1-0)
Cedartown: 3-2 (1-0)
Ridgeland: 1-5 (1-0)
Northwest Whitfield: 4-1 (0-1)
Heritage: 3-3 (0-1)
Pickens: 2-4 (0-1)
Next week, the Dragons will be back home as they welcome the Ridgeland Panthers into town as they continue 7-AAAA play. Ridgeland picked up it’s first win of the season against Heritage 21-14, holding on after leading 15-0 at halftime. Kickoff is set for 7:30.
Dragons open unusual 2020 season with win over rival Bobcats
PHS Football, Sports, Team FYN Sports September 5, 2020
On Friday September 4th, the 2020 high school football season got underway for the majority of the state of Georgia. With all of the ups and downs that has been this year and the will they won’t they speculation, to get to this opening night was a huge deal. In Jasper Georgia, two teams very familiar with each other took the field to open their seasons. The Pickens Dragons came into the 2020 season having to fill many major holes on both offense and defense after graduating most of their production from the team last season. The Gilmer Bobcats, came in with a lot of momentum having exceeded expectations last season, moving to a new region, and returning players with a lot of varsity experience. After it was all said and done, the Dragons picked up the win, 17-8.
The Bobcats won the toss, but elected to defer to the 2nd half, giving the Dragons the ball first. After a pooch kick was fair caught, the Dragons took over with a new starting quarterback in freshman Sam Streicher. If that last name sounds familiar, it should. Sam is the younger brother of Dragon football standout C.J. Streicher. The Dragons used a heavy dose of the run game on their opening drive with senior Jarod Whitmore getting the bulk of the carries. At the 9:44 mark of the opening quarter, Whitmore turned the corner on the right side and got in for the touchdown. The extra point from Juan Sanchez was good, and the Dragons took a 7-0 lead. After a Bobcat fumble on their opening drive, Pickens turned that into points with a 30-yd field goal by Sanchez to make it 10-0.
Jarod Whitmore scores the first touchdown of the season
Defense was the name of the second quarter as neither offense could find hardly anything. The score remained 10-0 Pickens until late in the first half when the snap on a punt attempt by the Dragons sailed over the head of Whitmore and landed in the end zone. Gilmer picked up two points with the safety, and had a chance to get more before the half. The defense for the Dragons held and we would head to halftime with Pickens leading 10-2.
Dragons on defense in the second quarter
The Bobcats, started the second half with the football and with a tweak to their game plan. Gilmer came out throwing more for their first possession of the second half and found success with it. After a pass interference call against the Dragons, the Bobcats connected on a 36-yd touchdown pass to make it 10-8. The ensuing two-point conversion try was no good, and Pickens still held the lead, this time at 10-8 with 8:55 to go in the third. Using that momentum from having just scored, Gilmer transferred that over to the defensive side of the ball where they got the stop. The Bobcats next possession was a quick one as Andrew Burrell picked off a pass attempt and set the Dragons up with good field position. Pickens turned that interception into points when Streicher found the returning Mykel Hand after a nice pass for the touchdown. The first varsity touchdown pass for Streicher. The PAT was good and the Dragons extended their lead over the Bobcats 17-8, going to the fourth quarter.
Freshman QB Sam Streicher rolling out for a pass attempt
In the fourth and final quarter, Gilmer had their chances to cut into the lead, but the Dragons defense held strong and helped Pickens come away with the win, 17-8.
After the set of games this week, here are the records for the teams in the new 7-AAAA:
Pickens: 1-0
Heritage: 1-0
Northwest Whitfield: 1-0
Cedartown: 0-0 (game canceled)
Central-Carroll: 0-0 (game canceled)
Ridgeland: 0-1
Pickens will travel to Summerville Georgia next Friday to take on the Chattooga Indians in non-region play. Chattooga is in region 7 in AA. They fell to Adairsville 35-28 on Friday night. Kickoff set for 7:30 pm next Friday.