North Forsyth's Cameron Andersen looks for running room in the first half of the Raiders 35-28 victory over Dawson on Friday. / photo: David McGregor
DAWSONVILLE – North Forsyth used a 21-point fourth quarter to rally for a wild 35-28 win over Dawson County Friday night.
The Raiders (2-0) scored two touchdowns in the final 2:10 to get the win taking advantage of an onside kick and a Dawson County turnover. North Forsyth trailed 28-14 heading into the fourth quarter on the strength of two kickoff returns for touchdowns by the Tigers’ Chris Sayler.
Sayler opened the game with a 93-yard kickoff return and Dawson County scored again less than three minutes later on a toiuchdown pass by Tyler Dominy. Dominy would strike again with just seven seconds left in the first half to give the Tigers a 21-7 lead.
The Raiders trimmed the lead to 21-14 on a 75-yard pass from Harris Roberts to Tyler Riddle. But, Saylers answered with a 99-yard return for a touchdown on the ensuing kickoff for what looked to be an insurmountable 28-14 lead.
But North Forsyth cut the lead to 28-21 on a 54-yard TD pass from Roberts to Bailey Mauldin with 3:50 left in the game. The Raiders then recovered an onside kick and five plays later Joe Musulman scored on a 1-yard run to tie game with 2:10 left.
North Forsyth kicked off deep on the ensuing kickoff but Dawson County, which was set up for an onside kick could not retrieve the ball until it was at the 6-yard line. Disaster then struck the Tigers, who fumbled on the first play.
The Raiders recovered and Musulman scored on a 6-yard run with 40 seconds left to give them the lead.
Dawson County would fumble the ensuing kickoff, North Forsyth would recover and then run out the clock.
Dominy finished 18-of-25 for 178 yards and two touchdowns for Dawson County. The Tigers (2-1) were looking for their first 3-0 start since 2001.
