OAKWOOD — Despite struggling against Coey Watson and a tough Dawson County ground game, the West Hall defense stood tall when it mattered most Friday night.
The Spartans twice stuffed Watson and the Tigers offense in a pair of overtime periods to help steal a 30-23 win at Spartan Field.
“Just a great football game by both teams,” West Hall coach Tony Lotti said. “We knew it was going to be a difficult game and it was. But I’m proud of our guys and how they just kept battling.”
In the first overtime with the score tied at 23, the Spartans stuffed Watson four times inside the 3 and had a chance to win it in the first extra period but a bad snap on a 29-yard field goal attempt by Israel Lopez knocked Lopez out of his rhythm and the kick was a line drive low and to the left.
The West Hall offense shook that off and needed just three plays in the second overtime. AJ Favorite carried for 4-yards, senior quarterback Jacob Satterfield found Will Dague for a 9-yard completion to the 2, and Tyrese Osborne finished off the quick drive on the next play to give West Hall a 30-23 lead.
The Spartans defense then closed out the game stuffing the Tigers on four plays, including knocking down a pair of Watson passes into the end zone.
The big defensive stands came after Watson pratically single-handedly reclaimed the lead for Dawson County late in the fourth quarter. Watson carried the ball 10 times for 55 yards and capped an 11-play, 56-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run and added a two-point conversion run to give the Tigers a 23-20 lead with 5:20 left in the game.
Known for his dual threat, an early-game arm issue forced Watson to abandon the passing game in the second half. He would not be denied even with the Spartans stacking the box with sometimes nine and 10 guys on the go-ahead drive.
“He had a dead arm and had trouble throwing the ball but he said he could run it,” Dawson County coach Sid Maxwell said. “He’s got a lot of heart and he showed it. He just kind of willed that drive. Just a tremendous effort by him and the whole team. We had to fight through adversity with injuries.”
The Tigers also lost starting running back Taylor Cronan, who was having big success in the first half.
After Watson’s theatrics, West Hall mounted what looked like was going to be a go-ahead drive of its own. The Spartans marched to the Tigers 5 and faced a 4th-and-1. They appeared ready to go for it but a penalty pushed them back and they brought in Lopez for a game-tying field goal. But another penalty pushed it back even further.
Lopez, who had shanked an earlier attempt late in the first half and missed an extra point, said he tried not to think about the added distance.
“All I could think about was just not having anyone be mad at me,” said Lopez, who drilled the 32-yarder to tie the game at 23. “I felt good when I hit it and it felt good to get that one and tie it up.”
“People think it’s easy to be a kicker in football but really there’s only a few guys that are really capable of doing it,” Lotti said. “I’m proud of Israel for not getting down on himself. He stood up for us and got us to overtime to give us a chance.”
Watson finished with 119 yards on 36 carries and three touchdowns to lead Dawson County (1-1). But he was just 3-of-5 passing for 29 yards. Junior Connor Bearden saw his first varsity action in place of Watson under center and was 2-of-8 for 21 yards.
The West Hall ground game struggled against the Tigers defense amassing just 121 yards on 39 carries. But Satterfield was 10-of-29 for 107 yards
Neither team could get much going offensively in the opening minutes but Dawson County got good field position at its own 42 after a short punt and Watson went to work. He completed a 7-yard pass to Austin Young, pitched to Taylor Cronan, who sprinted 21 yards to the Spartans 26, and then connected with Young again to the West Hall 8. Two plays later Watson ran in from 6-yards and with a Ryan Glass 2-point run they led 8-0 with 5:27 in the first quarter.
But the Spartans got their offense cranked up with quarterback Jacob Satterfield doing most of the damage. He went 12 yards on a keeper on third down and found Justin Hearn on a 21-yard gain to the Tigers 29. Satterfield and AJ Favorite connected on a 24-yard screen to the Dawson 1 and then satterfield finished off the drive scoring on a 1-yard sneak to cut the lead to 8-7 with 2:45 left.
Then both teams took advantage of some mistakes. The Spartans forced a punt on Dawson’s next possession but Tommy Oliver muffed the kick and the Tigers recovered at the Spartans 31. Watson capped a 7-pay drive -- all runs -- with his own 1-yard touchdown to extend the Tigers lead to 15-7.
Again, West Hall answered right back Satterfield was the catalyst going 4-for-4 on the drive with a pair of passes to Will Dague to move the Spartans to the Dawson 21. Satterfield extended the drive on a 6-yard run on third-and 3 and then capped he it with a beautiful floating pass to George Lira for a 9-yard score to cut the lead to 15-13 with 5:44 left in the half.
Dawson County was making gains on its next possession but Watson’s issues forced Maxwell to bring in Bearden, but his first pass across the middle was picked off by Ashun Favorite and returned 55-yards for a touchdown to give the Spartans their first lead at 20-15 with 3:50 left in the first half.
Three plays later, Watson and Payton Myers mishandled a handoff exchange and the Spartans’ Patrick Hudson recovered at the Dawson 17 Tigers defense sacked Satterfield on third down leading to a missed 36-yard field goal attempt.
The score stayed that way until Watson’s drive gave the Tigers back the lead.
SCORING SUMMARY
Dawson Co....8......7....0....8....0....0 -- 23
West Hall.......7....13....0....3....0....7 -- 30
First Quarter
D -- Watson 6 run (Watson pass) 8-0, 5:27
W -- Satterfield 1 run (Lopez kick) 8-7, 2:45
Second Quarter
D -- Watson 1 run (Dennis kick) 15-7, 10:23
W -- Lira 9 pass (kick failed) 15-13, 5:44
W -- Ashun Favorite 55 INT ret (Lopez kick) 20-15, 3:50
Fourth Quarter
D -- Watson 5 run (Watson run) 23-20, 5:20
W -- Lopez 32 FG 23-23, 1:39
Second overtime
W -- Osborne 2 run (Lopez kick) 30-23
