DAWSONVILLE — It wasn’t difficult to dissect Dawson County’s disappointing 49-28 loss to Lovett Friday night in the first round of the Class AAA playoffs.
Six Tigers turnovers: 28 Lovett points.
“You just can’t make that many mistakes at this time of year against good teams,” Dawson County coach Sid Maxwell said. “It’s disappointing but I can’t fault the kids’ efforts.”
What will also have the Tigers shaking their heads until next season is that they had an early 14-0 lead with a chance to add on and blow the game open midway through the second quarter.
But the first of three Peyton Ringer interceptions for Lovett (8-3) got the Lions going as Dawson County (7-3) turned the ball over on three consecutive plays to help the Lions erase the lead and tie the game at 14 with two touchdowns in a 37 second span.
“Lovett didn’t really do anything we hadn’t seen but we just had a couple of bad passes and we just couldn’t get the momentum back,” Maxwell said. “We knew Lovett was good.”
Despite the miscues, the Tigers managed to stop a 21-point Lovett barrage in the second half with a 21-yard pass from Coey Watson to Nick Murphy to cut the Lions lead to 35-28 with 9:27 left in the game. Dawson County stopped the Lions on their next possession and looked poised to stage the comeback.
But Ringer picked off his third pass of the night on the Tigers next possession and then reeled in a 34-yard touchdown pass from Crawford Schwieger for a 42-28 lead to put the game away. The Lions added another score on a 21-yard touchdown run by JT Carr with just under three minutes left after blocking a Dawson County punt.
Maxwell said despite the setback, the program is headed in the right direction.
“We had a great year. We’ve come a long way in just two years. We’re going to start getting ready for next year,” he said.
The defenses controlled things early as both teams were forced to punt on their first two possessions and chewed up all but a minute of the first quarter. The Tigers then began a touchdown barrage by both offenses over the next five minutes.
Watson found Kolton Brumbelow on a simple out route, who then broke a tackle and raced down the right sideline for a 53-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 1:02 left in the first quarter.
Lovett used a long kickoff return to get to its own 39 but was stopped on a 4th-and-1 at the Lions 48 by the Tigers defense. Watson struck quick again finding Murphy all alone after a Lovett defender fell down for a 47-yard touchdown pass on the next play for a 14-0 lead with 11:46 left in the half.
The Tigers forced another Lovett punt but then the Lions defense sparked a quick and bizarre comeback as Dawson County turned the ball over on its next three touches.
Ringer intercepted a Watson pass that was knocked down by the wind. After the Tigers forced another punt, Kolton Brumbelow fumbled the punt. Brady Tindall then connected with Riner for 37 yards to move the ball to the Tigers 5 and Tindall found Nick Jackson for a 4-yard touchdown pass cut the lead to 14-7 with 8:08 left.
Dawson County’s Payton Myers then fumbled on the next Tigers play and three plays later Tindall scored on a 2-yard sneak to tie the game at 14 with 7:54 left.
The Tigers regained control before halftime with an 11-play, 92-yard drive, highlighted by a 52-yard pass from Watson to Murphy and then capped by a 1-yard Watson touchdown run for a 21-14 lead with 2:10 left.
The Tigers even got one more chance to add on when Jeremy Whalen intercepted Tindall with 50 seconds left in the half. The Lions appeared to force a punt but Myers scooped up a bad snap and raced 14 yards on fourth down for a first down. Watson moved the Tigers down to the Lions 30 with 2 seconds left but a Myers 47-yard field goal attempt fell just short as the half ended.
SCORING SUMMARY
Lovett........0.....14...14....21 -- 49
Dawson.....7.....14....0......7 -- 28
First Quarter
D -- Brumbelow 53 pass from Watson (Dennis kick) 7-0, 1:02
Second Quarter
D -- Murphy 47 pass from Watson (Dennis kick) 14-0, 11:46
L -- Jackson 4 pass from Tindall (McGowan kick) 14-7, 8:08
L -- Tindall 2 run (McGowan kick) 14-14, 7:31
D -- Watson 1 run (Dennis kick) 21-14, 2:10
Third Quarter
L -- Wallace 10 pass from Tindall (McGowan kick) 21-21, 7:56
L -- Jackson 1 pass from Tindall (McGowan kick) 28-21, 2:39
Fourth Quarter
L -- Wallace 4 run (McGowan kick) 35-21, 7:31
D --Murphy 21 pass from Watson (Dennis kick) 35-28, 9:27
L -- Ringer 34 pass from Schwieger (McGowan kick) 42-28, 6:13
L -- Carr 21 run (McGowan kick) 49-28, 2:55
