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This season’s lone loss for the East Laurens Middle School Falcons was against the Dodge County team that came calling for Wednesday’s region championship game at the new Falcon Field.

The Warriors, a winner by 28-26 heartbreaker on coach John Peacock Field just two weeks earlier, had East’s number again as they knocked off the top seed, 18-6, to win it all in the MGMSAA for the first time in 15 years.

East Laurens Middle School’s Lee Mack (9, above) slings a pass in the direction of Braylon Bigham (below), who caught it for a roughly 50-yard touchdown that cut Dodge County’s lead down to six points late in the third quarter/CLAY REYNOLDS

Dodge’s multiple quarterbacks needed to do very little passing, as the running back tandem of Jekel Prince and Baheem Carr provided steady yardage running behind a strong offensive front, and multiple key fourth-down conversions that kept drives late in each half on the move, on the way to Prince’s first touchdown to get the Warriors on the board with a minute or two left to the half, and to seal the game on a roughly 70-yard death march that consumed the entire eight-minute fourth quarter. Carr broke a big one, and Prince punched in his second, to extend the visitors’ lead in the third quarter.

Dodge County’s Jekel Prince (2) digs for the end zone on his second touchdown run of the game to stretch the Warriors’ lead back to two scores late in the third quarter/CLAY REYNOLDS

The Falcons, whose rushing attack was unable to get enough going, had to rely on the deep ball for a breakthrough. They struck for their only touchdown in between Dodge scores in the third as Lee Mack hit Braylon Bigham to cut the Warriors’ 12-0 lead in half.

Christian Mapp leapt to intercept one of multiple others that didn’t find their intended target