Lineman of the Year who played both ways and led the offense at the guard position and helped ignite the defense as a defensive tackle , and defensive end Cain Williams , who helped set the tone up front for a defense that was stingy and hungry to win after the 1-4 start .
Junior Holden Clark stepped up at outside linebacker and two-way lineman Michael Cano also helped make the Dawson D fast and feared . All of those players were named to the District 7-2 DII All-District First-Team at the end of the year that really took off in midseason .
Dawson ’ s offense also soared after the 1-4 start along with quarterback Brant Boatright , who threw for 4,246 yards and 69 touchdowns his first two seasons at Dawson , where started as a freshman . Kelley knew with all the losses to graduation that his offense would not be as high flying as the previous two season .
He went Boatright and told him simply : “ You ’ re going to have to run this season .”
Boatright made the adjustment , changed his game and made it work , winning without the spectacular numbers . Well , when he led the Bulldogs to a 4-0 midseason winning streak , everyone was happy .
The Bulldogs started the streak with a 19-2 defensive non-district gem over Bosqueville , which never touched the end zone . Dawson ’ s D scored a safety and Boatright completed just 9-of-16 passes for 153 yards with Cameron Watson leading the way with four receptions . Boatright moved into his new role and rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns on just six carries ( 17.2 yards aper carry ) to start the streak .
Boatright completed 7-of-17 passes the next week for 168 yards and a TD in a 27-6 win over Itasca as Watson caught four more passes for 108 yards . Boatright ran for 129 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries and James Selman picked up 46 yards and scored twice on seven carries .
Valley Mills was no match for the now-hot Bulldogs as Dawson cruised to a 30-8 win without a TD pass . Instead , Boatright ran for 163 yards on 27 carries ( 6.0 average ) and three touchdowns and Evan Javier had a big day with 17 yards rushing , 52 yards in kick returns and 30 yards on an interception return . The Bulldogs were winning in different ways than in 2023 , but winning when it counted . They completed the four-game streak that turned their season around with a 30-14 win over playoff-bound
Italy , which beat Axtell earlier . Boatright threw for 157 yards ( 6-for-13 ) and two TDs — one to Watson and one to Chase Thomas — and ran for 155 yards on 30 carries and two more TDs . The Bulldogs ran away with the game when the Dawson D slammed the door , shutting Italy out in the second half to go 4-2 in the district race . That tied the Bulldogs with Italy with 4-2 records in district and they won the No . 2 spot in district and a No . 2 seed in the playoffs with the tie-breaking sweep over the Gladiators .
Dawson has now reached the playoffs six years in a row — the longest streak in the Golden Circle .
“ We were pleased with the season and proud of the kids ,” Kelley said .
The Dawson coaching staff — Bryan Kelley , Daniel Kelley , Trey Henderson , Mike Medrano , Cole Pemberton and Anthony Burnett — earned the District ’ s Coaching Staff of the Year Award .
Brant Boatright was the District ’ s Offensive MVP and Jackson Onstott was the Offensive Lineman of the Year .
Wide receiver senior Cameron Watson , Guard junior Michael Cano , and Guard junior Hayden Langenegge were all named to the 7-2A DI First-Team Offense , and junior defensive end Cain Williams , senior defensive tackle Jackson Onstott and junior outside linebacker Holden Clark were named to the 7-2A First- Team Defense .
It wasn ’ t just a great season at Dawson , it was a season to remember ...
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