Interceptions, Bostic’s hat trick in fourth give Dublin last word over Dodge in 100-point thriller

Friday’s 61st meeting between Dublin and Dodge County delivered another of the all-out barnburners that have become the norm in the last three editions of the longtime rivalry. 

For a third-straight, the Indians gave the Irish every bit they could handle, and this time came as close as any to completing the upset with a fourth-quarter lead. But once again, Dublin emerged the winner to claim a piece of coveted ground in the region standings. 

Of the teams’ 100 combined points, the Irish scored the last 14 to prevail 53-47, picking up their 38th victory in the series and moving within a game of clinching the region 2-AA championship. 

“I felt like our kids showed a ton of resiliency,” said Dublin head coach Roger Holmes. “Neither team deserved to lose this game. When Dublin and Dodge get together, it’s going to be a war. I think it was a huge win for our program, and all we’ve got to do now is go back next week and find a way to continue to get better.”

Just one more win for the Irish in either of their final two will do it, though running the table would also likely assure them of top seed in the state playoffs as they prepare to visit Vidalia Friday, then host East Laurens the following week.

Dublin (7-1, 4-0 region) is presently the top-rated public school in the GHSA Post Season Rankings, with Thomasville as its main contender for No. 1 overall, though both the top two would have assurance that all roads to Mercedes Benz Stadium would run through their own home field. 

For Dodge County (4-4, 2-2 region), the second-straight loss means a back seat to both the Irish and Bleckley County in the league standings, though the Indians still stand to earn a top-16 seed in the tournament after strong showings against both 2-AA’s top two. 

And though Dublin beat both the others head-to-head, all three – in games decided by a touchdown each – have proven there’s little that separates them as contenders who each have a shot at going deep in November. 

The teams’ matchups since the arrival of Dodge head coach Phillip Brown in 2024 have trained fans to expect a thrill ride, whether that’s the first year’s rollercoaster – whose breathtaking heights and depths included a multi-score Irish comeback to win 50-33 in Eastman – or last year’s more defense-dominated 22-16 Irish win in the Bowl – more resembling a drop tower on which the Indians’ hopes were high after jumping out to an early two-touchdown lead, only to plummet on a few incremental dives in the latter part of the game. 

This one, for its back-and-forth momentum changes, could be best compared to the swinging frisbee ride that spins its occupants around and around at the end of a giant oscillating pendulum that eventually flips upside down. 

It was easily as high-scoring and unhinged a game as any the teams have ever played, and like the pair before, was marked by plenty of explosive plays from the Indians’ passing attack, and just-as-unstoppable a Dublin run game going the other direction. 

Dodge held the total offense advantage by a count of 487 yards to 411, a bulk of that number triggered by quarterback Kain Mincey, who with the help of two triple-digit receivers was 16-of-36 passing for 376 yards and five touchdowns. 

“I was very very disappointed, obviously, in how we played defensively, but you know what? Dodge County had their thing going,” Holmes said. “They mixed it up phenomenally well with the run, pass, short game, deep game. We never really got any pressure on their quarterback, and our secondary struggled tonight against a bunch of really good receivers. But at the end of the day, we found a way to win. Good football teams find a way to win.” 

The Irish ran for 406, and seven out of their eight scores. 

Turnovers struck both ways, but in a familiar theme, Dublin took advantage of a couple key ones late that made the final difference. 

The most pivotal was an interception that occurred moments after Irish wingback Trav Bostic tied the game with his second touchdown run of the night, followed by a two-point conversion on the exact same power play to even the score at 47 with a little under five minutes to go. 

Dodge County started from its own 26, and picked up a first down on the bold decision to go for a fourth and inches that Aamaury Fountain narrowly converted. 

But the ensuing series wound up in a third and medium, and for the first time in what seemed like all night, the Irish dialed up a blitz that got home to force a mistake. 

Mincey, with an unblocked Jaden McRae bearing down, turned loose a throw over the middle that looked to find Jauriel Bray up the seam. 

But he didn’t see Dublin’s Kye Young, who picked the pass off and ran it back to the 30-yard line to set the Irish up for a go-ahead chance with less than two minutes to play. 

They needed only two plays to cash it in. 

Bostic gained 25 on an opening run, then took a carry right on a perimeter sweep, and survived a shoulder pad tackle to spin back in over the pylon for the touchdown with 1:08 to go. 

The extra point was no good, but Dublin was back on top for the first time since way back in the opening quarter. 

And the Irish defense, which all night had been hard-pressed to get the Indians off the field without giving up points, would have to do it one more time. 

Fountain’s return to the 18 had Dodge starting in what seemed like its worst field position of the night. 

But another in the game’s trend of clutch completions between Mincey and members of his elite receiving corps got things moving toward midfield for the Indians, as Bray secured a diving catch for a first down, and Jakavion Harris picked up another on the run after to lift them out of the deep hole following an intentional grounding penalty that was forced by the rush of V.J. Bond. 

With time winding short after a Mincey scramble to his own 48, it was time for the inevitable deep shot. 

The senior slung it as hard as he could to an area with multiple receivers down the right numbers near the Irish 10. But a slight underthrow wound up in the hands of Dublin’s JaKarian Jones, and his interception and return – plus 15 additional yards on an unsporting foul for some jawing in the aftermath – put the Irish 12 yards from the end zone for their final kneel-down. 

Fasten your seat belts… 

Dublin’s only other lead followed its first touchdown of the night, which also resulted from a key defensive play as Zion Porter – who had his name called several other times later in the night – scooped and scored after Bostic’s blocked punt back in the first quarter. 

For a game that turned out to be so high-scoring, both defenses were strangely dominant in the early going. 

Neither offense went much of anywhere on the game’s first three possessions that were limited to a series and a punt. 

But a short kick started Dodge’s third in plus field position, and the Indians went to their staple trick play on an end-around to Jerimiah Burns that got about 18 and finally got the chains moving. 

Mincey threw a back-shoulder strike to Bray from 26 yards on the very next play to tie the score. And it remained six apiece after the Dodge PAT spun off to the left.

Dublin punted again, and Dodge drove from inside its 5 to go on top, taking advantage of a freebie on an Irish pass interference foul to score on Robinson’s 25-yard run over the right side.

A failed conversion left the Indians with a 12-6 lead at the end of one. 

They got it back on a Dublin fumble, but wound up punting. And the Irish – in the nick of time – hit one of their patented big plays on the first snap of the next drive as Knight, recently their most prolific highlight back, took off after turning the corner on the left side for a 61-yard touchdown run. 

Once again, the point-after missed, and the count was level at a dozen points. 

Burns returned the next kickoff 75 yards for another go-ahead Dodge TD, and once again, the Indians followed it up with a huge stop on downs. 

Dublin’s defense gave up a first down on pass interference, but then forced a punt that Bond got to and blocked. 

Bostic made the recovery, and the Irish drove the remaining 45 yards on runs by Knight and Ryland Yates, who had the nine-yard touchdown carry. 

NaZyon Mitchell’s first successful point after tied it up at 19. 

Dublin held to force an incompletion on a fourth and long in its red zone, and ran out the clock to send things to halftime. 

All heck began to break loose after that. 

Dodge County’s Jordan Spady tipped a pass for an interception by Fountain on Dublin’s opening series. 

Burns made another highlight just a few plays later, spinning away from one tackler and juking out another on a 31-yard catch and run for a touchdown as the Indians turned an Irish blitz into another big play, and a 26-19 lead. 

Dontavious Cannon ground his way downhill on carries, the last for a 21-yard score, that made up most a Dublin drive of 52 to respond, and tie at 26 with another good PAT. 

Mincey and Dodge carved a 70-yard path back to the other end zone to lead again, after double-digit completions over the shoulder to Burns and Fountain, and a 19-yard floater to Bray for the TD. 

Dublin used the last two minutes of the third to equalize again, on a 55-yard march keyed by Yates’ 31-yard keeper, and sneak touchdown. 

Mitchell’s point made it 33-each. 

The Indians held serve. Fountain returned the kickoff close to midfield, then caught a long touchdown pass to put the Indians up 40-33. 

The Irish almost matched it, but lost another fumble as the ball was stripped away from Cannon on the end of a solid run up the middle. 

A Domimarkeyo Walden pressure and Matthew Batts break-up forced Dodge to punt, and Dublin drove back to score on a four-yard Bostic run. 

The point failed, and the Indians led 40-39, then 47-39 after Mincey’s 69-yard touchdown pass to Burns – just as untouched off a catch right down the middle of the field – for an eight-point lead. 

Knight’s 20-yard run was the opening spark of a second-straight scoring drive as Bostic broke two big runs in three plays for his third score in a row. 

Yates had just one completion on three passes for five yards, but rushed for 72 and a touchdown and did some adjusting at the line of scrimmage that his head coach Roger Holmes pointed out was a key part of getting into the right run on several key downs. 

Knight led rushers with 11 carries for 148, with Cannon right behind at 20 attempts for 141. Bostic added 10 for 51, and the late hat trick. 

Burns, with 136 yards and over 200 in the all-purpose category, and Fountain, who caught an identical four passes for 125, led Dodge receivers.