DAWSONVILLE — Billed as the biggest game in program history, Dawson County could not hold up under the pressure Friday night.
The Class AAA eighth-ranked Tigers fell to No. 1-ranked Greater Atlanta Christian in a season-finale battle for the Region 7-AAA title, as Stanford-commit Davis Mills passed for 327 yards and five touchdowns in leading the Spartans to a 42-7 victory at Tiger Stadium.
Dawson County (7-2, 5-1 Region 7-AAA) fell behind early and never recovered as the Spartans (9-1, 6-0) blew the game open with 21 points in the second quarter and took a 28-0 lead into halftime. The Tigers were looking for their second straight region title.
“GAC is a good football team,” said Dawson County coach Sid Maxwell. “They have guys that do double moves and (Mills) throws before they cut. You just don’t see that much in high school.”
Dawson County will still be the No. 2 seed from Region 7-AAA in the upcoming state playoffs, which begin next Friday. The Tigers will play host to the yet-to-be-determined No. 3 seed from Region 5-AAA in the first round.
“Runner-up is nothing to hang your head over,” Maxwell said in a post-game address to his team. “The good thing is that what you did for the first (nine) games is gone. It’s a new season. Everyone is 0-0 so we just need to get ready for the first game of the new season.”
GAC will be the No. 1 seed and play host to the No. 4 seed from 5-AAA.
The Tigers started the game strong getting a pair of first downs and driving to the GAC 41 on their opening drive. But three straight incompletions forced a punt. On their second drive they moved to the Spartans 39 but Coey Watson was sacked on third down forcing another punt.
The Dawson County defense also looked solid early forcing the Spartans into a quick three-and-out on their opening drive.
How might things have changed had the Tigers been able to grab the early lead?
“Well, that might have changed a few things but again they are a tough team to defend,” Maxwell said. “We’re still growing as a program and it’s always good when you see a team like that to see where you need to be.”
Starting with the Spartans second possession, it was all GAC the rest of the way.
The Spartans defense did not allow a Dawson County first down over its next three possession while the offense got going scoring on their next three drives. Mills lofted a perfect 56-yard pass to a streaking Harrison Sloan down the left sideline and connected on touchdown passes of 4- and 15-yards to Jake Floyd as they exploded for 21 points in a 7-minute span for a 21-0 lead with 8:32 left in the half.
Dawson County’s best chance to score in the first half came after a Logan Barnes interception of a Mills pass on the Spartans' fifth possession -- Mills’ first of the season. The Tigers started at their 36 and on the strength of a 34-yard Watson run they moved to the GAC 13. But, they eventually faced a 4th-and-2 and elected to try a 31-yard field goal. Peyton Allen’s attempt sailed wide right with 1:32 left in the half..
Three plays after the missed field goal, the Spartans provided the dagger with a 68-yard screen pass to Kyler McMichael for a 28-0 lead with 1:05 left in the half.
The Tigers tried 3-, 4-, and 5-man fronts and dropping eight in coverage at times. Nothing seemed to affect Mills. The big screen came on a blitz.
“We tried a lot of things but (Mills) is just that good. There’s a reason he’s the top quarterback in the state,” Maxwell said.
Mills finished the first half 13-for-18 passing for 229 yards and four touchdowns and the one interception.
Watson was 6-of-17 passing for 39 yards and added another 62 yards rushing on 10 carries to lead the Tigers.
Midway through the third quarter GAC pushed the lead to 35-0 on a 2-yard touchdown run by McMichael one play after he had bobbed-and-weaved to the 2 on a 39-yard gain.
Dawson County finally got on the board on the third play of the fourth quarter when Peyton Myers blasted through a huge hole on 4th-and-2 for a 22-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 35-7 with 10:15 left.
But the Spartans answered right back. Sloan returned the kickoff to the 31 and then caught a 66-yard pass from Mills to the Dawson 1 on the next play. Two plays later Mills added his fifth TD pass of the game connecting with Jeffrey Blake on a 2-yard score for a 42-7 lead.
The Tigers, who came in averaging over 400 yards of offense a game, were held to just 208 by the Spartans. Watson finished just 8-for-20 for 55 yards passing and 51 yards rushing.
SCORING SUMMARY
GAC.................7.....21....7....7 -- 42
Dawson Co......0......0....7....7 -- 7
First Quarter
G -- Sloan 56 pass from Mills (Henderson kick) 7-0, 3:37
Second Quarter
G -- Floyd 4 pass from Mills (Henderson kick) 14-0, 10:58
G -- Floyd 15 pass from Mills (Henderson kick) 21-0, 8:32
G -- McMichael 68 pass from Mills (Henderson kick) 28-0, 1:05
Third Quarter
G -- McMichael 2 run (Henderson kick) 35-0, 7:26
Fourth Quarter
D -- Myers 22 run (Dennis kick) 35-7, 10:15
G -- Blake 2 pass from Mills (Henderson kick) 42-7, 7:58
