Tigers get first win, beat Dawson 34-6
By JOHN LOVVORN

ERIC SCOTT HAD OVER 200 YARDS RUSHING And with his 66-yard reception, he was getting close to 300 total.

Last Friday night, the Washington Wilkes Tigers started their region schedule off with a bang, defeating the Dawson County Tigers by a score of 34-6. Both the offense and defense were impressive for Washington, showing that the tough opening games of the year really paid off. The win made Washington 1-0 in region play, tying the Tigers of Greene County for first place in the southern sub-region.

Washington-Wilkes kicked off to start the game. Anthony Smith charged down the field and knocked a Dawson County blocker back into the return man, stopping him at the Dawson 22-yard line. Dawsonville was able to earn two first downs, one by a 16-yard pass and the other on an offsides penalty against W-W, before the Washington defense forced them to punt. Washington started its first drive on its 13-yard line. W-W marched down the field with a 10-yard and an 11-yard run by Eric Scott, a 12-yard run by Teverrius Jones, and a 15-yard pass from Jones to DeDe Stewart, who made a great catch after the ball bounced off another players hands. The drive ended on a fourth down play from the Dawson County 34-yard line which Scott took all the way to the end zone, giving Washington-Wilkes its first lead of the season. The extra point was no good, making the score 6-0 with 2:58 left in the first quarter, but Washington was on the board and never looked back. The W-W defense forced Dawsonville to go three-and-out on its next possession, but the punt was dropped and Dawson recovered on the Washington eight-yard line. On the ensuing play, the Dawson County center snapped the ball over the quarterbacks head back to the 21-yard line, where Chris Kemp picked it up and ran 79 yards into Washington-Wilkes football history. Kemp's 79-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown is the second longest fumble recovery in the history of W-W football, as reported by official Washington- Wilkes football historian Skeet Willingham. Kemp's return is second only to an 84-yard return by Justin Gartrell back in 1999 versus Lincoln County. Kemp's touchdown put Washington ahead 12-0 after a missed PAT with 55 seconds left in the first quarter. After the kickoff, two plays for Dawson County out to the W-W 46-yard line ended the exciting first quarter.

Dawson continued its drive into the second quarter, driving down to the Washington 26-yard line before being stopped. Dawsonville's kicker came out and made a 43-yard field goal to end the Washington-Wilkes shut-out with 9:00 left in the second quarter. Washington started its drive on its 11-yard line. Short runs by Jones and Scott, as well as a 14-yard pass from Jones to Stewart, moved Washington out to its 34-yard line. On third down, Jones executed a perfect screen pass to Scott, who caught the pass and ran 66-yards untouched for another Washington-Wilkes touchdown. A handoff to Scott converted the go-for-two, increasing Washington's lead to 20-3 with 3:59 left in the first half. Dawson County started its drive on its 35- yard line after the ensuing kickoff went out-of-bounds. Dawsonville drove down to the W-W 14-yard line with seconds left in the second quarter. Dawson County tried for a last second touchdown pass at the end of the half, but Stewart made a great jumping interception, keeping Dawson out of the end zone. Jones took a knee for Washington to end the half.

Deon Jackson started the second half for Washington with a 47-yard kickoff return to the W-W 48-yard line. Four runs by Scott moved Washington down to the Dawson 26-yard line, before a fumble recovered by Dawsonville ended the drive. Washington's defense forced Dawson to go three-and-out, getting the ball back on its 45-yard line after the punt. A short run by Drew Wilson and a 28-yard run by Scott got Washington down to the Dawson County 24-yard line. Jones hooked up with Stewart again, who was stopped just short of the goal line for a 22-yard gain. Scott scored on the next play, and scored the two-point-conversion, giving Washington a 28-3 lead with 4:55 left in the third quarter. Dawsonville was forced to go three-and-out again on its next drive, with the Dawson punter launching a 66-yard punt down to the W-W five-yard line. Washington made it out to the 13- yard line before fumbling again to Dawsonville. Two short gains for Dawson down to the nine-yard line ended the third quarter.

The Washington defense again kept Dawson County out of the end zone, forcing Dawsonville to kick a 26-yard field goal. This cut Washington's lead to 28-6 with 11:52 left in the second quarter. Jones started the next drive with a 25-yard run into Dawson territory, but three plays later the drive stalled, with Jones kicking his first and only punt of the game. Dawson started its drive with two double digit runs for first downs, but then excellent play by the W-W secondary caused four incomplete passes in a row and a turnover-on-downs. After four plays, Washington fumbled back to Dawsonville on the W-W 47-yard line. Dawson made it to the Washington 30-yard line before again turning the ball over on downs. A 58-yard run by Scott again put W-W in striking distance. A short run by Jackson set up a six-yard touchdown run by Jones. Tom Saggus was brought on to try the extra point, but a bad snap caused the kick to be blocked, giving the game its final score of 34-6 with 1:29 left in the game. Dawson again turned the ball over on downs with four incomplete passes. Washington set up in victory formation and ran "the greatest play in football" (taking a knee) to finish off the clock and seal the win.

Washington had a huge game offensively, gaining 395 yards, 274 rushing yards and 121 passing yards. Scott was the leading rusher with 23 carries for 216 yards. Scott is the first freshman in Washington- Wilkes football history to rush for over 200 yards. Jones was next with 11 carries for 47 yards. He also went five-for-nine passing for 121 yards. Scott was also the leading receiver with one reception for 66 yards, giving him 282 all-purpose yards. Stewart was next with four receptions for 55 yards. On special teams, Jackson had three kickoff returns for 99 yards. Defensively, Washington held Dawson to 127 yards and didn't allow a touchdown. The defense was led by Smith with eight tackles, fiveassists, and one and a half sacks. Next was Wilson with four tackles and fiveassists. The W-W secondary as a whole had a great game, with Dawson's last 12 passes being incomplete. Stewart led the secondary with four tackles, one assist, two passes broken up, and an interception.

This Friday night is Homecoming for Washington-Wilkes. The Leopards of Banks County are coming to visit the Tigers for another region game. Offensively, Banks County runs a wing-T and features fullback Justin Beasley. Beasley rushed for over 250 yards two weeks ago against Commerce. Defensively, the Leopards base out of a 5-3. Kickoff is at 7:30 at Tiger Stadium.

Tigers vs. Dawson Co. (statistics compiled by Scott Chafin)

W-W DC
First Downs 14 9
First Downs Rushing 11 4
Yards Rushing 274 52
Yards Passing 119 75
Passes 5-9-0 6-25-1
Total Yards 393 127
No. Penalties 10 4
Yds. Penalized 90 40
Fumbles/lost 5/3 1/1
Punts/avg. 1/35.0 4/45.0
Return yards 99 92
Score by quarters
Tigers 12 8 8 6 - 34
Dawson Co. 0 3 0 3 - 6

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