This past Friday the Gilmer Bobcats hosted their long time rivals Pickens Dragons. Friday’s game was the 58th meeting between the two schools. Gilmer headed into the game looking for their first region and a big rivalry win.

Pickens won the toss and elected to receive the ball.

The Dragons would start the ball on 36-yard line to start one of oldest rivalries in the state of Georgia. The Dragons would drive on the Bobcats on their first series. Pickens coach, Chris Parker, would throw in some trick plays and go for a fourth down conversion to extend the drive. The Dragons would find a way to score, but the 2-yard touchdown would be called back after a chop block causing the Dragons to start at the 17-yard line. The drive would come to a end when Wide Receiver Dylan Huffman would catch a pass, but would fumble the ball. The Bobcats would recover the ball on the 11-yard line.

The Bobcats would start the drive on the 11-yard line with 7:11 left in the first. The Bobcats would have big success in their running game in their first possession. Running Back Kell Kiker would find a way to score on a 57-yard dash to the end zone. Casas was successful on the PAT making the score 7-0 with 4:34 left in the first quarter.

On the next possession the Dragons would come out driving again. The Dragons would find their self in the red zone, but would be stopped when the Bobcats forced a turnover on a failed 4th down conversion. The Bobcats would takeover at the 12-yard line with 1:20 left in the first.

The Bobcats was unable to do anything with the turnover going three and out finishing the 1st quarter.

To start the 2nd quarter the Bobcats would punt the ball. The Dragons would start the next drive at the 36-yard line.

The Dragons would find a way to drive down the field after a big run from quarterback Jacob Brumby and two consecutive personal fouls on the Bobcats, the Dragons would end up in great scoring position. With 9:08 left in the second quarter freshman Running Back CJ Streicher would find the end zone on a 2-yard run. The Dragons would tie the game making it 7-7.

The rest of the second quarter would consist of turnovers and multiple three and outs. The two teams would head into halftime tied at 7.

The Bobcats would start the second half at the 39-yard line.

The Bobcats would find their self in a 3rd and 17 situation, when quarterback David Smith would drop back and pick up a 58-yards run on a design draw and would be brought down at the 10-yard line. The bobcats would find their self in great scoring position. On the 10-yard line, coach Luck would run a Half back pass where Kamron Engler would be intercepted by cornerback Dylan Huffman. After the interception, the dragons would find their self on the 3-yard line after a unsportsmanlike penalty. The dragons would start their there drive with 10:32 left in the third quarter.

After the turnover, the Dragons would drive down the field where running back Chris Pittman would score from 5-yards out. Putting the Dragons over the Bobcats 13-7 with 3:45 left in the 3rd quarter.

The bobcats were unable to respond to the Dragon touchdown. The offense would go three and out and the Dragons would start on the 39-yard line.

The Dragons offense would come out late in third quarter looking to score once again on the Bobcats. Running back Chris Pitman would find a way to score again on a 52-yard touchdown. The dragons would miss the two point conversion making the score 19-7 with 12 seconds left in the third.

The Bobcats were unable to respond on the Pickens touchdown. The dragons defense would hold the bobcats to a three and out.

The dragons offense would come out once again after two consecutive score. They would drive down the field but The Bobcats defense what hold them to a three and out, but the dragons offense would stay on the field for a fourth-down conversion, but would fail on a blocked pass by Levi Seabolt. The Bobcats would take over at the 13-yard line with 7:55 left in the fourth down 19-7.

The bobcats offense would come out after the turnover. On the first play David Smith would drop back to throw two intended receiver Griffin Cagle, but was intercepted by cornerback Michael Casey where he would take it down to the 1-yard line.

Dylan Huffman would punch it in for a 1-yard touchdown. The dragons two point conversion would fail. Making the score 25-7 with 7:25 left in the 4th quarter.

Late in the fourth, the Bobcats tried to drive the field, but would end up fumbling the ball where Alex Pittman would recover the fumble and take it all the way in for the 42-yard touchdown. The PAT was successful putting the Dragons over the Bobcats 32-7 with 2:38 left in the 4th.

The Bobcats were unable to respond at the end of the game going three and out. The Dragons would get the ball back with 42 seconds left in the fourth where they would just run the clock out to end the game.

After the game I caught up with Coach Wingard. I asked him what the experience was like coaching his first Gilmer vs Pickens game. He responded, “It was great, but it wasn’t how I wanted it to turnout.” I went on to ask him what happened to the team in the second half. He replied, “It’s was the little things. We gave them too many yards penalty wise, and you can’t be a great football team when you’re doing that. We got to focus that energy on the plays and not our emotions after the plays. He went on to say, “We got to put this game behind us. We’re looking forward to next week, we got to worry about Southeast. It’s like I said all week to the kids, it’s just another game you got to play it, we can’t think about this weeks lost or we’re never gonna move forward.”