ITALY — Following the Daily Sun Game of the Week Friday night, Willis Field stood, pitted and plowed, as a silent reminder of the war that had just been waged between the Dawson Bulldogs and the Italy Gladiators. Amid the mud and muck stood Bulldog head coach Scott Hawkins, whose squad had just clinched the District 21-1A title with a 27-20 victory over the Gladiators, congratulating Italy coach Craig Bales on a hard-fought, battle.

Dawson’s (7-1, 5-0) defense was stellar in the second half, allowing the Gladiators (5-3, 4-1) only 71 yards of offense, while holding talented QB Jasenio Anderson and the Italy offense out of the end zone. Senior DL Oscar Padron and the tenacious Bulldogs kept Italy’s leader on the move, and out of his comfort zone throughout the night.

The Gladiators put together only two truly threatening drives in the final two periods. One ended when Dawson senior Nick Warren recorded his third interception of the season, snatching an Anderson pass from the air at the Bulldog two yard line early in the fourth quarter.

The Gladiators’ next possession ended with a punt after a 54-yard touchdown run by Anderson was called back after a chop block penalty flag was thrown, leaving the home team in a deep hole they were unable to pass their way out of.

“The thing we talked about at halftime was just keeping our composure, and coming out and playing hard,” said Dawson defensive coordinator Gary Kay. “We said whatever we do in the second half, let’s do it all together, and that’s what we did.”

The Gladiators extended their first half lead to 20-6 with just 57 seconds left in the second quarter as Anderson scored on a 7-yard quarterback keeper, which was set up by a 43-yard pass to senior John Isaac on the previous play.

“Coming into it we knew it was going to be a great game, and our kids fought their guts out. We played really great team defense in the first half,” said Bales. “Dawson came up big in the second half and just moved us around.”

Facing a 14-point deficit as they came out of intermission, the Bulldog offense went to work, putting together back-to-back methodical, time-consuming scoring drives to even the game, 20-20.

Dawson RB Alex Shaw scored his first touchdown of the night from one yard out to cap a 13-play drive that ate up the first five minutes and seventeen seconds of the third quarter.

Following a turnover on downs by Italy, Shaw found the end zone from twelve yards out with 13:38 left in the game. The score was set up by a scramble from Trey Tennison in which the shifty quarterback reversed his field to pick up 13 yards, and a carry by senior Justin Oliver, who rumbled and stumbled for 35 yards down to the twelve yard line.

Oliver led all Bulldog rushers with 88 yards on 12 carries, and was his team’s leading receiver, with a pair of catches for 82 yards, his first scoring Dawson’s initial touchdown of the game.

With 2:36 left in the contest, the Bulldogs took possession 60 yards away from the goal line. The drive began on a sour note with a run for a loss of a yard. On the following play, however, Tennison rolled to his right, and found junior Michael Vaughn on the Dawson sideline for a 31-yard gain and a fresh set of downs with 1:56 showing on the clock.

Two plays later, Shaw ripped his way through the Gladiator defense for a gain of 21 yards, down to the Italy five yard line. The junior picked up another four on the following snap and took the clock down to just 16 ticks.

Ten seconds and two run attempts later, Shaw plunged over the goal line, and following a Steven Travis point-after kick, the Bulldogs had the seven-point lead with just enough time for the Galdiators to attempt a score on the kickoff return. The attempt failed as the final second ticked off the clock, and the visitor’s sideline erupted.

A Dawson squad which featured no single hero throughout the game, featured eleven on the field, every play, on both sides of the ball, leaving its head coach more proud and impressed perhaps than the victory itself.

“I don’t know if we had any standouts, I just can’t pick one person out,” Hawkins said. “We just played as a team, and that’s just a really awesome thing.”





Dawson 27, Italy 20

Dawson 6 0 14 7 — 27

Italy 6 14 0 0 — 20



First Quarter

I — Jasenio Anderson 14 run (kick failed), 3:03

D — Justin Oliver 31 pass from Trey Tennison (kick failed), :22

Second Quarter

I — J. Anderson 8 run (run failed), 8:24

I — J. Anderson 7 run (J. Anderson run), :57

Third Quarter

D — Alex Shaw 1 run (run failed), 4:43

D — Shaw 12 run (Tennison run), 1:38

Fourth Quarter

D — Shaw 1 run (Steven Travis kick), :06



D I

First downs 14 12

Rush-yards 51-247 25-124

Passing yards 128 183

C-A-I 5-8-0 12-26-1

Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0

Punts-avg. 3-34 3-35

Penalties-yards 2-15 4-45



Individual

Rushing — D: Justin Oliver 12-88, Alex Shaw 18-86, Trey Tennison 10-50, Michael Vaughn 7-10, Nathan Blair 2-5, Joseph Strother 1-5, Nick Warren 1-3. I: Jasenio Anderson 19-107, Kyle Jackson 4-15, Justin Hayes 1-1, Kyle Wilkins 1-1.

Passing — D: Tennison 5-8-0-128. I: J. Anderson 12-26-1-183.

Receiving — D: Oliver 2-82, Nick Renfro 2-15, Vaughn 1-31. I: Heath Clemons 4-62, Desmond Anderson 3-21, John Isaac 2-50, Aaron Thomas 2-22, Jackson 1-28.





Dawson’s defense pitched a second half shut-out after giving up 20 first half points on boggy Willis Field in Italy.



The Bulldogs held Italy to just 71 yards in the final two quarters in the 27-20 victory.





Gladiator (5-3, 4-1) QB Jasenio Anderson racked up 107 rushing yards and 183 yards through the air.





Dawson (7-1, 5-0) QB Trey Tennison completed five passes for 128 yards, and gained 50 on the ground.





Justin Oliver led the Bulldogs in rushing (88 yards) and receiving (82 yards), and scored his second touchdown reception of the season on a 31-yard catch that knotted the game, 6-6, late in the first period.