Dublin survives twists, turnovers to beat Bleckley County in rollercoaster region debut

Turnovers seemed to turn Friday’s top-10 battle between Dublin and Bleckley County on its head every time you turned around.

Three fumbles and two interceptions were far more than wrinkles in the fabric of the back-and-forth between teams projected to be 2-AA’s two best. 

Each of the five changes of possession changed matters just when you thought the matchup was smoothing out to follow a predictable course. 

The Royals used two of the above to score defensive touchdowns. The other three occurred in plus territory to end threats by both offenses. 

But at the end of it all, two grinding scoring drives in a shutout second half got the Irish home from Cochran with an edge-of-your-seat win, 27-21. 

Both rivals emerge from the potentially region title-swinging clash with an overall record of 4-1, and five region games still to go. 

Dublin (1-0 region) has another bye week before continuing region play against Swainsboro Oct. 9. Bleckley visits the Tigers this coming Friday. 

The Royals converted Irish mistakes into two of the three touchdowns that made up their 21-14 halftime lead, as turnover issues that have been Dublin’s one major achilles heel this season recurred during its opening and closing sequences of the half. 

Quarterback Ryland Yates was scrambling near his own end zone barely two minutes into the game, when a hit from Bleckley nose tackle Cody Register knocked the ball loose in the end zone for a touchdown recovery by Willy Walters. 

A Bleckley pick-six ended the half, as Octavius Tate ran back a misdirected pass 85 yards on the final play, and the Royals turned around a Dublin threat to take the lead before the break by going up themselves. 

BC had its own issues with turnovers, committing two that included a red zone fumble on the first drive of the game, though it’d still end up with the 7-0 lead courtesy of the Irish mishap. 

But finishing drives into or near plus territory was, overall, a rotten-luck proposition for the Purple and Gold, which would miss a field goal in the second quarter, be intercepted by JaKarian Jones in the third and be stopped on fourth downs twice in the last. 

Dublin recovered from the early disaster and scored on back-to-back possessions to climb back into the lead, then did the same with two touchdowns in three as it faced a similar starting hole to begin the second half. 

A missed point-after kick left the door squarely ajar for a backdoor winner if Bleckley could make good on either of two shots at a game-tying touchdown that reached the red zone in the game’s last 10 minutes. 

But the Irish would turn them away with a pass break-up at their 6, and again around their own 20 with under a minute left, as a Brody Fleming pass fell incomplete. 

The Wing-T delivers again… 

Jamarcus Knight, on 13 carries for 133 yards, and Trav Bostic, with 17 for 107, brought the big plays for the Irish on the ground. Yates and Jaydon McRae – starting in place of the inactive Dontavious Cannon at fullback – took care of the key short-yardage situations up the middle, and had two touchdowns each. 

Yates also completed a pair of passes, one to McRae, for 30 additional yards. 

Dublin had some penalties and issues get in the way early in the game, but came out of the half with the composed and consistent drive that was needed. It was a beauty: 85 yards covering six minutes to punch it in on a carry by McRae. 

The Irish picked up where they left off after Jones’ pick, and were a yard from going back up, but had it come loose on the end of a play, and Bleckley made the recovery. 

It was a short series, and another short kick that set the Irish up with a 35-yard field to officially take the lead, although they’d have to change ends for the quarter before McRae thundered 12 yards over the middle for his second touchdown 72 seconds into the fourth. 

Despite the hiccup to spot BC its first touchdown, and a shaky start to the next possession, Dublin similarly imposed its will all the way along a 74-yard drive to tie the game back in the first. 

Big carries by Bostic and Knight keyed the trip. Yates finished things off with a sneak. NaZyon Mitchell’s point-after evened the score at 7. 

Bleckley punted, and Dublin started with a plus field before repeating the process. 

Its second series was stuck in a third and long, but a 12-yard pickup saved a chance to keep it going on a fourth-and-short keeper by Yates that went for 10. 

He made the play to salvage an unlikely fourth down after a similar progression starting from the Royals’ 15, scrambling on a fourth and seven, and taking it in from 12 to give Dublin the lead just more than 60 seconds into the second quarter. 

The Irish, for the most part, bottled up the carries of Bleckley’s Zyion Love and Kix Foskey on the Bleckley’s run options, forcing Fleming to beat them through the air. 

The Royals put together their only official scoring drive of the night, highlighted by his scramble and completion to Gage Harris on an impressive catch to reach the Irish 5, and responded on a single-yard run by Love to equalize midway through the second. 

Then it was their turn to swing momentum. 

Bleckley forced a three-and-out, and was most of the way to an 80-plus yard drive to take the lead, thanks to a 50-yard carry for Love’s biggest gain, though a third-down hold by the Irish forced a field goal attempt that swung wide. 

Once again, the Royals would get the touchdown anyway, only in less predictable fashion as Dublin worked its way to their 30, and took a shot on a Yates rollout as time expired. 

The Royals’ pass rush forced him to extend the play, and some confusion ensued as his receiver went left. Yates’ throw, anticipating a cut in the other direction, sailed to the waiting Tate with blocking for the return. 

Yates was the only man with a chance to save the tie, but his diving tackle missed at the Dublin 45, and Tate took a convoy into the end zone and the half with a 21-14 lead.