By Dr. David Davis
For the second time this season, Dawson came up a point short to fall to 0-3.
The Eagles fell to Hightower 20-19 to open the 2023 football campaign, lost to No. 4 area-ranked Klein Collins 30-19, and then came up short 17-16 to Tomball. All games were non-district and won’t affect their chances of making the playoffs, but head coach Mike Allison doesn’t like to lose.
Dawson began last season 0-3, made the post-season, and finished with a 6-5 record. But Allison knows that his chargers played a lot better this year against the same teams he fell to last season and they were very close to being 2-1 instead of 0-3.
The team has an open date this Friday and then District 23-6A action begins on Friday, September 22 at Pearland ISD Stadium when the Eagles host the Alief Hastings Bears at 7:00 p.m. The Bears are also 0-3 on the season.
The game against Tomball didn’t start out the way Allison wanted as the Eagles got the opening kickoff and fumbled the ball to the Cougars on the fifth play of the game giving Tomball the ball at the Dawson 47.
With precision, Tomball used 13-plays to drive 47 yards to score on a 1-yard dive with 4:46 remaining in the opening quarter. The PAT hit the mark and the Cougars had a 7-0 lead.
Not to be discouraged, Dawson collected their thoughts and went on a 13-play, 72-yard scoring drive capped off with an 8-yard touchdown by Bryce Burgess. The PAT was good and the game was tied with 11:18 left in the second quarter.
The Eagles would strike again with 5:50 left before halftime as they forced Tomball to punt to set up their offense at their own 36.
Burgess got the call, broke through the offensive line off some great blocking, and then raced to the pay station on a 64-yard scoring jaunt. However, the extra-point try was blocked by Tomball leaving the Eagles with a 13-7 lead.
Dawson got the ball back after Jerimiah Treadaway blocked the Tomball punt and the ball was recovered by Superion Johnson at the Cougars 22.
The Eagles had to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Aaron Jensen for a 16-7 lead with 3:08 remaining before intermission.
The Dawson defense forced Tomball to punt on their next possession but the punter found an opening so he ran for a first down to the Eagle 30.
The Cougars completed a long pass to the Dawson 4-yard line and punched the ball across the goal line with 1:01 remaining in the first half. The PAT was good making the score 16-14 at intermission.
The scoring was limited in the second half as Tomball was able to hit a 31-yard field goal with 8:25 left in the fourth quarter to take a 17-16 lead which stood as the final score.
The Dawson offense had 245 yards on the ground and 54 yards through the air for a total of 299 yards while Tomball managed 140 on the ground and 115 through the air for a total of 255 yards.
Dawson QB Gage Greene was 6-of-11 for 54 yards passing and had nine carries for 69 yards while Bryce Burgess had 20 carries for 148 yards and two scores.
The Eagles have an open date this week.
