Dawson is playoff bound for first time in young history

November 4, 2009

From the time that Eric Wells was named as the head coach for the Dawson Eagles -- he has made no secret that he wanted his first class of seniors to advance to the playoffs. He knew that there was only a two-year window with the first senior class of 2010 which meant they only had two years of varsity competition to accomplish that dream.

Wells has been successful at every level -- from the years he was playing at La Marque and winning state championships as a player and as a coach -- to helping build a winner at Pearland High School with head coach Tony Heath.

The commitment, experience, and the vision were all part of the package when Wells left the Oilers to take on a new program from the ground floor up.

The Eagles were 9-1 in their initial season as a junior varsity program. In 2008 - Dawson's first official varsity season - the Eagles fought to a respectful 4-4 mark while being the only team in District 24-4A to knock off eventual co-champion Angleton to hand them their first loss of the 2008 season.

When Dawson hosted the Texas City Stingarees at The Rig this past Friday -- their playoff future was in their own hands. They weren't looking for help from anyone else -- they knew they had to take care of business to earn their own way to the post-season for the first time in school history.

And the Eagles did exactly that!

"We knew what we had to do," Wells said. "Our kids have worked hard for the past three years to get to this point and we are really excited about continuing our season."

Dawson throughly dominated Texas City in a lopsided 34-14 win leaving now doubt as to whether they deserved to move to the next level.

The Eagles improved to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in district with one game remaining against the Santa Fe Indians who are fighting for their playoff lives at 3-3 in district and 6-3 overall. Santa Fe must beat Dawson in order to join district champion Angleton, Friendswood (6-3, 4-2), and Dawson in the playoffs.

The game against Texas City featured the first-ever senior night for the Eagles with 28 seniors playing their last home game at The Rig. And they made it a memorable moment they will never forget. Senior quarterback Darian Lazard, who is bound for Utah, led the second drive of the first quarter for a score capped off by a 2-yard run. The drive covered 42-yards in only eight plays. The extra point by Stuart Watkins was good for a 7-0 lead with 2:14 left in the first quarter.

Texas City answered with a 2-yard scoring run by Justin Branch with 9:12 left in the second quarter to knot up the game at 7-7...but Dawson went on a scoring run with 27 unanswered points for a 34-7 lead with the final score coming with 3:16 left in the third quarter.

The Stings scored their final touchdown with 4:54 left in the game to make the final 34-14.

Lazard scored a total of three touchdowns on runs of 2, 16, and 26 yards while tossing scoring passes to Akeem Blackshire covering 14 yards and Marcus Vaughn for 5-yards.

When the final horn sounded - Dawson rolled up 361 total yards and 20 first downs while the Eagles' defense held the Stings to an anemic 140 yards and 10 first downs.

Lazard has been one of the top offensive weapons in the Houstson area as he now has 1,353 yards passing for 11 TDs with only two interceptions while picking up 754 yards on the ground on 144 carries and eight more scores. That gives him 2,207 total yards and 19 TDs with one regular game left in the season.

Against Texas City, Lazard had 171 yards passing and 110 yards rushing and five TDs.

Vaughn was the leading receiver with six catches for 88 yards and one score.

Dawson travels to Santa Fe on Friday, November 6 at 7:00 p.m. While the Indians are much improved this season - the Eagles will be looking to close out the year with a win and a school-record 8-2 mark and momentum going into the post-season.

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