Dragons soar over Eagles in non-region play
PHS Football, Team FYN Sports September 11, 2021
Rome, Ga — It was a beautiful day for high school football on Friday, September 10th as the Pickens Dragons made the long trip over to Rome to take on the 2A Coosa Eagles in non-region action. These two teams have a brief history with one another having only played 5 times. The Dragons, coming into this one, had won the previous three meetings. Pickens, looked to bounce back after a tough loss last week to White County. Coosa, came in looking for their first win of the season after games against Trion and Armuchee. Behind a strong defensive effort, that included five takeaway’s, Pickens came away with a 34-10 win.
The opening kickoff saw the first turnover as the game. As Coosa was returning the kick, the Dragons forced a fumble and recovered it. Pickens cashed in on that turnover as Sam Striecher found Devin Hand in the corner of the end zone for the touchdown. Hand went up and over the defender to catch the pass. The PAT was blocked and with 10:44 left in the first quarter, the Dragons led the Eagles, 6-0. Pickens, added to their lead later on in the quarter as Hand found the end zone again. Hand, took the snap under center and got in from 2-yds out. The PAT was good this time around and the Dragons took a 13-0 lead into the second quarter.
Sam Streicher finds Devin Hand in the end zone
Both teams had shots in the second quarter, but were unable to come up with anything. Coosa, picked up their first points of the game as they hit a 27-yd field goal. With 5:13 left in the first half, Pickens now led the Eagles, 13-3. Just prior to halftime, Streicher found his target Marcus Pike, for a 13-yd touchdown. The PAT was good, and the Dragons took a 20-3 lead into the break.
The Dragons defense making the tackle
The Dragons wasted no time adding to their lead as they began the third quarter. After perfectly fielding the onside kick attempt, Pickens made quick work of their first possession in the second half. Streicher, hit Hand on the screen play, and Hand did the rest as he took it 55-yds for the touchdown. The PAT was once again successful, and the Dragons held a 27-3 advantage. That would be all the scoring that took place during the third quarter, and we’d head to the fourth quarter with Pickens ahead, 27-3.
Dragons looking to run the ball
Seconds into the fourth quarter starting, Anthony Antinozzi picked off an Eagle pass attempt and took it all the way for a Dragon touchdown. The PAT was true and Pickens held a 34-3 lead with 11:51 left in the ball game. Coosa, got into the end zone with a 39-yd touchdown run. Your final score from Coosa High School, Pickens 34 Coosa 10.
With the win, the Dragons now move to 2-1 on the season. Pickens, will be back home next week as they welcome the Union County Panthers to Jasper. It’ll be the 12th all-time meeting between these two schools. This will be the final non-region game for the Dragons before 7-AAAA play begins on October 1st.
Dragons drop non-region game to Warriors
PHS Football, Team FYN Sports September 4, 2021
Jasper, Ga — A lot of things were going on in Pickens County on Friday September 3rd, 2021. It was the start of a festival known as JeepFest, local country music recording artist Jacob Bryant played a show for his hometown crowd on main street, and the Pickens Dragons welcomed the White County Warriors to Dragons Stadium for a non-region contest. These two teams have gone back and forth the last couple of years, but the Warriors have taken the last two meetings. Pickens, came into the game looking to build off of an impressive win against Commerce. White County, came in looking to right the ship after two tough early season games.
The Warriors were the first to receive to start the ball game. After driving down the field a bit, White County’s opening drive was stalled by a holding penalty, and a sack by the Dragons defense. Offensively, Pickens didn’t waste any time attempting a home run shot. After receiving the snap, QB Sam Streicher handed off to RB Kadyn Hampton, who then tossed it to Collin Kellogg. Kellogg, launched it down field to Devin Hand who nearly made an incredible diving catch to reel the pass in. The Dragons, would end up having to punt the ball away on that first drive. White County, got the ball back, and was able to keep this drive alive after a successful fake punt. That play ended with a targeting call on the Dragons to give the Warriors even better field position. The next play, the Warriors got in on a 9-yd touchdown run. The 2-point conversion attempt was no good, and we’d head to the second quarter with White County leading the Dragons, 6-0.
Dragons on offense in the 1st quarter
In the second quarter, both teams started to settle in defensively. The lone score of the second quarter came at the 9:37 mark as the Warriors found the end zone after a 44-yd touchdown pass off of a screen play. The PAT attempt was good and White County extended their lead over Pickens to 13-0. The Dragons, certainly had their chances offensively in the first half, but it was one of those times were every shot was just miss. Going into the half, the Warriors held a 13-0 advantage.
Dragons on defense in the 2nd quarter
In the third quarter, the Dragons were looking for a way to get back into the ball game. At the 4:38 mark of the third, Pickens did just that as Streicher got in after a 5-yd touchdown run. The PAT was good and the White County lead was cut to 13-7. That score held up for the rest of the quarter and we’d head to the fourth, Warriors leading, 13-7.
Streicher capped off the drive with a touchdown
Midway through the fourth quarter, The Warriors went for it on 4th down from the 1-yd line. The ball carrier, leaped over the pile and just narrowly crossed the plain for the touchdown. With 5:50 left in the game, White County extended their lead to 20-7. The Dragons had opportunities, but it just wasn’t meant to be as the Warriors took this one, 20-7.
The Dragons, will now look to regroup as they will prepare for their first road game of the season next Friday in Rome against the Coosa Eagles. Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm.
Defense dominates as Dragons defeat Eagles
PHS Football, Sports, Team FYN Sports September 26, 2020
Jasper, Georgia — On Friday September 25th, the Pickens Dragons (2-2) hosted the Coosa Eagles (2-1) in non-region action at Dragons Stadium. The Dragons were back home for the first time in two weeks, and were looking for a spark to jump start their season. Coosa, came in putting big points up in two games with over forty in each contest. Last night was also Homecoming for Pickens. Behind a stellar defensive effort, the Dragons evened up their record with a 10-0 win.
The Eagles won the toss but elected to differ to the second half, giving the Dragons the ball first. After a quiet first drive, Pickens was forced to punt. Senior Jarod Whitmore got a great punt off that was downed at the Coosa 2-yd line. The Eagles picked up one first down, but that was it for their opening drive. The Dragons drove down a short field and set up for a 29-yd field goal attempt. That attempt was unsuccessful. Going to the second quarter, we had no score on the board.
The Dragons defense getting after the Eagles
In the second quarter, Pickens had several chances to punch in touchdowns and were finally able to cash in during the later stages of the first half with a 5-yd touchdown run by Whitmore which was helped set up by a beautiful pitch and catch by Sam Striecher to Mykel Hand. Going into halftime, the Dragons led the Eagles, 7-0.
Jarod Whitmore looking to gain big yards
In the third quarter, the Dragons added on to their after a 39-yd field goal by Jose Sanchez connected giving Pickens a 10-0 lead with 8:59 left in the third. The field goal was set up by an interception by Conner Browning, one of three turnovers forced by the Dragons defense. No other scoring occurred in the third and we headed to the fourth with the Dragons ahead, 10-0.
The Dragon defense played well against the wing-t
The fourth quarter saw the Dragons defense stuff any possible chance at a comeback for the Eagles as Pickens was able to hold on to the shutout and improve their record to .500 on the season with a 10-0 win.
7-AAAA Standings:
Northwest Whitfield: 4-0
Heritage: 3-1
Central-Carroll: 1-1
Pickens: 2-2
Cedartown: 1-2
Ridgeland: 0-4
Next week, the Dragons will be back on the road as they head to Blairsville to take on the Union County Panthers in their final non-region game of the schedule. This will be the 11th all time meeting between the two schools having not played since 1991. Pickens currently is riding a 2-game win streak in the series. Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm.
Dragons fall to Warriors in non region action
PHS Football, Sports, Team FYN Sports September 19, 2020
Cleveland Ga — Last night, the Pickens Dragons (1-2) traveled up to Cleveland Georgia to take on the White County Warriors (3-0) in non region action. These two teams have become very familiar with each other over the last several seasons meeting twice in 2018, once in 2019, and again in 2020. All together, this was the 46th all time meeting between the two schools. It was senior night for White County as they would continue their impressive start to the season defeating the Dragons 42-7.
The Dragons kept up their streak of winning the opening coin toss to start the season as they elected to get the ball first. Their opening possession for the Dragons was a short one as the Warriors were able to recover a fumble. White County cashed in on the turnover with a touchdown run to make it 7-0. The Warriors added to their lead with an 6-yd touchdown run to make it 14-o with 6:37 left in the first quarter. With 2:29 left in the first quarter, White County got into the end zone with an 8-yd touchdown run to make it 21-0 Warriors over the Dragons.
Sam Streicher looking for a receiver
The first quarter ended as the Warriors were driving. twelve seconds into the second quarter, White County struck again with a 65-yd touchdown pass to make it 28-0 with 11:48 left in the first half. That would be the only score in the second quarter as we headed into halftime with the Warriors ahead of the Dragons, 28-0.
Dragons looking to defend a pass play
The third quarter saw the Warriors add to their lead with a 2-yd touchdown run to make it 35-0 with 8:03 left. With fifty-three seconds left in the third, White County scored on a second 2-yd touchdown run to make it 42-0 going to the fourth and final quarter.
Pickens looking to get into the end zone
The fourth quarter saw the Dragons come up with their best drive of the night. Some highlights of the drive included a great catch by Mykel Hand and a 1-yd touchdown run by Jarod Whitmore just before time expired. Final from Cleveland, 42-7.
7-AAAA Standings:
Heritage: 3-0
Northwest Whitfield: 3-0
Pickens: 1-2
Central-Carroll: 0-1
Cedartown: 0-2
Ridgeland: 0-3
Next week, the Dragons will be back home as they welcome the Coosa Eagles to Dragon Stadium. The Eagles, are 2-0 on the season after wins over Trion and Lookout Valley (TN). They are out of region 7 in AA. Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm.
Dragons baseball wins two games on Saturday
PHS Baseball, Sports, Team FYN Sports February 17, 2020
The PHS Dragons varsity baseball team recently broke in their brand new baseball facility and started the 2020 season on Thursday with a 6-5 win over the Murray County Indians. On Saturday, they hosted the Union County Panthers, the Lumpkin County Indians, and the Coosa Eagles for a day filled with baseball. The Dragons faced off against Union County and Coosa. First up, Union County. Pickens used a big fourth inning to get the win over the Panthers, 12-4.
In the top of the first, the Panthers got on the board first as they scored one run on three hits to take an early 1-0 lead. The Dragons came right back in the bottom of the first with two runs on one hit to take a 2-1 lead into the second inning.
Dragons up to bat against Union
The second inning saw Pickens extend their lead to 3-1 over Union County after Hunter White drove in Drake Sutton. In the top of the third, the Panthers had runners on second and first after a two-out double and single. Dragon starter Alex Snelgrove was able to get out of the jam as Pickens kept their 3-1 lead.
Alex Snelgrove on the mound in game one
The fourth inning saw a lot of scoring. First, the Panthers retook the lead 4-3 with three big runs in the top of the frame. Not to be outdone, the Dragons would bat around in the bottom half of the inning scoring nine runs to take a 12-4 lead over Union.
Dragons looking to score runs in game one
Pickens held on to their 12-4 lead over the final three innings to get their second win of the young season.
Game 2:
After Lumpkin played Union and Coosa, the nightcap of the full day of games saw Pickens take on Coosa. Much like their game against Union earlier in the day, the Dragons used a big inning to propel themselves over the Eagles, 11-1 in five innings.
After nothing doing for either team in the first inning, both teams plated runs in the second inning. Coosa scored in the top of the second with one run to take a 1-0 advantage. In the bottom half of the inning, Pickens nearly batted around and scored four times to take a 4-1 lead going to the third.
Dragons batting against Coosa
In the bottom of the third, the Dragons again showed off the offense as they would bat around and plate seven runs to take an 11-1 lead over the Eagles.
Pickens battling Coosa under the lights
Pickens held on over the final two innings to defeat the Coosa Eagles 11-1 in five innings.
Pickens, will have another busy week next week as they will have a home and home series with the Lumpkin Indians. The first game will be at PHS on Tuesday with a first pitch time of 5:30. The Dragons will then travel up to Lumpkin on Thursday with the same first pitch time. Pickens will end the week with games against Dalton and Dominion Christian on Saturday at PHS.