July 13, 2010
COLLEGE STATION — The Dawson Eagles were under the radar last football season when they entered their second year of varsity competition. When the playoffs began, they still weren't heavily considered as a team that would make it to the 4A Region III Division I title game.
The only ones who believed they were a legitimate threat was head coach Eric Wells, his coaching staff, and the Eagles themselves.
There was a calm confidence all season in 2009 and after the Eagles captured their first-ever region title to advance to the state semifinals -- that confidence has been passed down to the new upcoming varsity players with some returning lettermen leading the charge.
One of the first questions asked is who is going to replace three-year starter QB Darian Lazard (UH) who left with scores of school offensive records?
While 7-on-7 is played without pads and a massive rush on the quarterback - it seems that Wells has found a strong contender to take over the offensive controls for the Eagles this season.
Kimble got great offensive support from Marcus Vaughn, Stuart Watkins, and Randall Weeks to name a few. Vaughn is being heavily recruited as a pure athlete.
Everyone agrees that you don't really replace a quarterback like Lazard, but the coaching staff is hoping that junior Garry Kimble will mold himself into another offensive leader that will continue the successful foundation that has been laid over the first three years.
Kimble and his teammates had a great showing at the state 7-on-7 tournament as they won their pool to advance to the championship bracket for the second straight year. But they didn't get past the first round of the championship bracket last season.
However, with Kimble at the controls, the Eagles advanced to the Division I state semifinals which ended with a 50-28 loss to state runner-up DeSoto.
Dawson opened up the championship run with a 39-14 win over Whitehouse. The Eagles took out district rival Manvel 39-16 and then edged Lamar 31-27 before running out of gas to DeSoto who lost to three-time defending 4A Division I state champion Austin Lake Travis in the finals.
All of the area teams qualified for the state tournament in the same year for the first time since 7-on-7 began.
Friendswood won their pool and opened up the championship bracket with a 42-21 win over Bowie and then dropped their second game to Pflugerville 38-34.
Pearland finished second in their pool play to advance to the championship bracket. The Oilers opened with a close 32-31 win over Wyle before falling to DeSoto 34-26.
Manvel beat Mesquite 35-30 before losing to Dawson 39-16.