Dawson has strong showing at state 7-on-7 tournament
July 13, 2009
COLLEGE STATION — They are young, but they are also very competitive as the Dawson Eagles advanced to the championship round of the state 7-on-7 tournament in their first year of qualifying. Dawson entered the second day in the championship bracket with 32 other teams. Their first round win placed them in the top 16 for the tournament.
Considering this to be Dawson's first appearance at the state tournament following their first year of varsity competition -- this was an extremely strong showing of how talented these Eagles are and what can be expected for the upcoming 2009 football season.
Dawson opened up the tournament in their four-team pool play with a win over 4A Stratford (45-39) and 5A Cedar Park (40-19), but dropped a heartbreaker to 5A Arlington Lamar 28-27.
The Eagles scored two extra points that would have given them a 29-28 win, but both extra points were called back because of penalties. The rules in 7-on-7 don't allow for a replay in case of a penalty on the offense, but they would have been allowed to try the extra point if the penalty had been on the defense.
With a 2-1 mark - Dawson advanced to the championship bracket and opened up with a 32-26 win over 5A Abilene, but lost another close game to 5A DeSoto 37-32 to end their tournament run. The Eagles finished with a 3-2 record in their first state appearance.
Members of Dawson's team included: Caleb Williams, Darian Lazard, Lawrence Alanis, Jordan Rose, Randall Weeks, David Farris, Marcus Vaughn, Micah Tillotson, Haywood Jeffires, Paget Gauthier, Jarell Crenshaw, Devin Kilpatrick, Nick Baldearena, Tochi Ajiwe, Tre Oliver, Alex Oliver, Alex Burton, Patrick Coleman, Tyler Freeze, Xavier Brown, and Steve Orisakwe.