On a chilly Friday night in North Georgia, the Gilmer High School Bobcats football team hosted the region rival Pickens High School Dragons. Gilmer, coming off of a win against Cass, was looking to win its sixth game of the year. Pickens was coming off of a loss to Cedartown, and hoped to get back on track with a win against the “Cats.” In a game that was close throughout, the Dragons faltered down the stretch allowing the Bobcats to pull away, 17-0, for the fifth straight win against the Dragons.Gilmer won the opening toss and elected to receive. The atmosphere was electric as the game got underway, and the Bobcats started on the Gilmer 27-yard line. Bertolini got things going with his usual style of tough, up-the-middle runs.

After Bertolini picked up five yards, Johnie Flakes added on another two and a Thaddeus Bowers pass fell incomplete bringing up fourth down. Manny Lopez boomed a punt all the way down to the Pickens 12-yard line, and the Dragons took the field backed up in deep in Pickens territory.

After a holding call moved the Dragons to the 6-yard line, Pickens began its first drive of the night. It was over pretty quickly, as Gilmer was swarming the ball and stopping the ball carriers before they could get started.

Nathan Bradley had a big stop on second down that forced Pickens into a passing situation. An incomplete attempt led to a punt, and Gilmer was back in business starting at its own 42-yard line.

Gilmer’s offense picked things up this time around. Victor Ramirez ran for four yards and Chad Watkins added one more. Faced with a 3rd and 5, Russell Cochran got the call. It was his only carry of the game, but he was patient and waited on the play to develop, hitting the hole as soon as it opened.

He was tackled right at the first down marker, but a measurement showed that he had gained the necessary yardage. The drive continued this way, with Flakes, Bertolini, and Watkins getting small amounts of yardage and then converting third downs. The drive finally came to a halt, and Lopez was called on to attempt the field goal. The contact was good, but the kick hooked left a bit too much and missed.

Pickens took over, and decided to try and jumpstart its offense. On the second play of the drive, a flea flicker was called. The receiver got behind the Bobcat defenders, but the pass was overthrown. The Dragon offense stalled again, and Pickens was forced to punt the ball away as the quarter expired.

Gilmer started with the ball at its own 41. Bertolini took the ball on the first play and bulldozed his way to a 16-yard gain. He took the ball again for two yards before escaping for a 33-yard run down to the Dragon 8-yard line.

A facemask penalty moved the offense half the distance to the goal, and the Bobcats were four yards from scoring. Bertolini got the ball for the fourth straight play, ran through arm tackles, and found the end zone. A Lopez PAT made the score 7-0 with 10:33 left in the first half.

The score had the Gilmer student section roaring the “I Believe” chant as Lopez sent the kickoff deep. Pickens was finally able to move the ball, and head coach, Wesley Tankersley, was livid at the poor tackling exhibited by the defense.

Flakes, Watkins, and Jake Ingram started to make some defensive plays and slowed the Dragon offense. After crossing into Bobcat territory, the Dragons committed the first of many mistakes. Corey Waters picked off a Pickens pass and ended the threat.

Gilmer was moving the ball down the field, making defenders miss and gaining good yardage with each play. After moving into the red zone on an impressive pass from Bowers to Austin Cole, the Bobcats would fumble the ball away ending their promising drive.

With just five minutes remaining in the half, Pickens put its offense into another gear, working all the way down to the Gilmer 4-yard line for first and goal with just under two minutes left in the half with two time outs.

Trying to run the ball, the running back found a brick wall named Bertolini and failed to cross in goal line. On second down, the same brick wall stopped the running back from advancing.

Gilmer called a timeout with 1:06 to go in the half. Pickens came out of the timeout, huddled, then quickly broke the huddle and tried an unsuccessful QB sneak. With fourth down and goal to go, the Dragons strangely elected to save their timeouts.

The resulting play was busted and the Gilmer defense held strong, keeping the shutout intact. At the half, Gilmer was leading 7-0.

The second half got off to an ugly start for both teams. Pickens fumbled the opening kickoff away to Gilmer, giving up incredible field position. Bertolini picked up three yards before Watkins fumbled the ball while fighting for extra yardage. The Dragons took over, dodging a bullet.

Gilmer had been getting some decent pressure in the backfield. To alleviate this, Pickens called for a screen to keep the defense honest. The ball was tipped, and fell into the arms of Nathan Bradley. Just like that, the Bobcat offense was back on the field with exceptional field position.

Flakes took a handoff on a sweep to the right side, but reversed field and picked up fifteen yards down to the Pickens 3-yard line. Three straight runs were stopped and Coach Tankersley elected to take the points. Lopez nailed the field goal and gave the Cats a 10-0 lead with 8:52 remaining in the third quarter.

Pickens’ next drive would be indicative of the type of night the Dragons had. The offense drove down into Bobcat territory and looked poised to score. Bradley, Waters, and Cole made big stops late in the drive setting up a fourth down. Pickens elected to go for it and attempted a pass in the direction of Corey Waters. His tight coverage was too good, and the Dragons turned the ball over on downs.

Gilmer again drove the ball down the field, running down the throats of the Dragons. Faced with a third and goal, Bowers rolled out of the pocket looking to throw. A receiver became open in the back of the end zone and he fired to him. Another Bobcat receiver attempted to catch the ball before it reached its intended target and it fell incomplete. Flakes took the ball on fourth down from a yard out and failed to score, giving the ball to the Dragons.

Once again, the Dragons were able to push the ball deep into Bobcat territory. With the ball at Gilmer’s 24, the key moment of the game took place. Austin Davis intercepted a pass and returned it for 59 yards to the Pickens 15-yard line. The next play was a beautifully placed ball from Bowers to Cole for a fifteen yard touchdown. Lopez added the extra point and the “Cats” led 17-0 with 11:19 left in the game.

Pickens would keep repeating the same thing the rest of the night. The offense would look good driving the ball, then falter in the red zone. There were several big plays by the Bobcats in the final minutes of the game. Bertolini had another long run, thanks to some great blocking on the outside by Waters.

Bowers had a great quarterback keeper that went for 51 yards. Every Bobcat possession intended to run out the clock, and Pickens kept desperately trying to come back. When the final horn sounded, the Bobcats were victorious, winning 17-0.

Bertolini finished the game with 105 yards rushing on 21 carries with one touchdown. Flakes and Bowers added 51 and 48 yards respectively. Bowers completed two passes for 60 yards and a touchdown, all to Cole.

Watkins led the team in tackles with 14, nine solo. Bertolini was second with 13, seven solo. Cole and Garret Rigdon, each finished with 11, six and two solo respectively.

Following the game, Coach Tankersley reminded the players that, after a win against Pickens last year, they lost the following week. He spoke on the importance of staying focused and preparing hard for next week’s game.

Gilmer (6-1) will play host to River Ridge (1-6) this week at Huff-Mosley Memorial Stadium.