DAWSONVILLE, Ga. — It took 62 years but Lumpkin County finally has its first region championship.
The Indians scored 21 straight points to erase an early deficit en route to a 34-23 win over arch-rival Dawson County on Friday at Tiger Stadium.
The win secured the Region 7-3A title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming state playoffs for Lumpkin County (9-0, 5-0 Region 7-3A), which will close out its regular season next week on the road against West Hall.
It did not start great for the Indians, who also were trying to snap an eight-game losing streak to the Tigers (2-8, 2-4 Region 7-3A) and win for the first time in Dawsonville since 1998.
Dawson County jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on a 45-yard field goal from Dom Leblanc. Will Staples tied the game at 3 for Lumpkin County with a 27-yard field goal in the second quarter.
But the Tigers took a 10-3 lead on a 14-yard touchdown run by Preston Bannister on their next possession.
The Indians offense woke up from there. Cal Faulkner hit Hunter Davenport for a 7-yard TD pass and Mason Sullens, the leading rusher in Class 3A, scored on a 59-yard run to give the Indians a 17-10 halftime lead.
Faulkner finished the 21-point burst with an 8-yard scoring run in the third quarter to push the lead to 24-10. The Tigers pulled within 23-16 on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Bannister to Sawyer Bearden late in the third.
The teams traded fourth quarter touchdowns as Faulkner connected with Nolan Matthews for a 39-yard TD pass and Bannister scored on a 12-yard run for the Tigers to make it 31-23.
Staples added a 37-yard field goal late to put the game away.
Sullens finished with 122 yards rushing for the Indians. Faulkner added 65 yards on the ground to go with 10-of-15 passing for 187 yards and 2 TDs.
Luke Evans had 5 catches for 116 yards and Matthews had 4 catches for 64 yards for the Indians.
Bannister had a huge game for the Tigers. He rushed for 148 yards and threw for 136 yards on 12-of-24 passing.
