It wasn’t quite affirmation for East Hall to pick up its first win of the season, according to coach Bryan Gray.

But it felt like validation last week when the Vikings (1-3, 1-0 Region 7-AAA) knocked off Lumpkin County 48-14 on the road to pick up their first win of the season.

After three weeks of picking his players back off the mat from tough losses, Gray can turn his attention to a home showdown today against Dawson County (2-2, 1-0), which already has the potential to shape the playoff race.

“We’ve been saying to this team that it’ll be tough,” said Gray. “But playing great opponents will prepare you for later on. As a coach, when you’re giving the speech, ‘Yeah, it’ll happen this week, it’ll happen this week...’ but our kids believed it.”

Credit Gray for scheduling East Hall through a heavy gauntlet early: The Vikings have picked up valuable experience in their opening three losses to No. 4 ranked Wesleyan, Pickens and Jackson County, who are now a combined 12-2.

It’s the kind of test that East Hall will need to learn from in order to make a return to the playoffs. After losing dual-threat quarterback Devin Watson to graduation, sophomore Austin Parker has made strong strides in controlling a balanced offense.

Since starting under center, Parker has thrown for 785 yards and eight touchdowns, including three scoring passes to Jackson in last week’s upset win in Dahlonega. Parker became the full-time starter when junior Markese Jackson had to switch to wide receiver following offseason injuries to wideout threats Rex Purgason and Deonte Evans.

Running back Jiel Vargas (253 yards, five TDs) has proved a strong option out of the backfield.

Jackson (518 yards, six TDs this season) thinks he and Parker have developed a good understanding where each other will be in routes and progressions.

“We’ve been clicking,” said Jackson. “We just keep going, we don’t stop. I like to run routes, it’s been something that I’ve been wanting to do.”

But for East Hall to prove its strength in the region, it’ll have to top Dawson County, who pulled off a convincing 17-0 upset of defending 7-AAA champion West Hall last week in Oakwood. The Tigers defense stopped the Spartans on all five trips to the red zone, while riding their own strong power-run attack for two early touchdowns.

Under the helm of first-year coach Sid Maxwell, who previously coached at Lambert and Sequoyah High, Dawson County is noticeably improved since last year’s 2-8 finish. Senior running back Hunter Mitchell (162 rushing yards on 18 carries) said last week that he felt the team could beat any team they played.

Senior cornerback Jacquen Hopkins said Wednesday that East Hall has focused on ‘gang tackling’ and plugging holes through the middle to make sure Mitchell and Dawson County quarterback Coey Watson don’t get running room.

“We have to stop the run and win the turnover battle,” Gray said. “Those are the two keys we have to do in order to be successful.”

It’s the same script East Hall followed to limit Lumpkin County’s speedy junior running back Zach Matthews. He averaged 163 yards per game heading into last week, but was held to less than 50 yards thanks to the Vikings’ focus on run defense.

“Basically, we’ll just be trying to contain them,” said Hopkins. “We’ve got to make sure they don’t break for big yards. So we’ll keep them in our box set-up in our defense. A lot of it is being in the right position and making the right play.”

Jackson said he believed Dawson County will come to Valhalla with confidence following its shutout victory over West Hall. The receiver called tonight’s game a “must-win” that has the potential to shape region seeding. The Vikings made the playoffs last season following nine years of being on the outside looking in.

“I was surprised, I was like ‘Wow, I thought this was going to be a close game,’ but they (Dawson County) shut them out,” said Jackson. “They’re going to be in it, they think they beat the big dogs now, so they’ve been doing well.”

East Hall is used to facing the big dogs. A win tonight against Dawson County would put the Vikings squarely among that talented company.

Friday’s games

Gainesville at Salem
East Hall vs. Dawson County
Buford vs. Chestatee
North Hall at North Oconee
Riverside Military vs. Strong Rock Christian
Lakeview Academy at Hebron Christian
Flowery Branch at Winder-Barrow
Banks County vs. Fannin County
Jackson County vs. Oconee County
Lumpkin County at Franklin County
White County at Madison County
Bye: Johnson, West Hall, Habersham Central