The Pickens offense did not take the field in the second half until 11:38 left in the fourth quarter, but the Dragons still held on to beat Johnson 21-14.

Going into halftime trailing only 7-6, Johnson (2-7) came out of the locker room and drove to Pickens’ 1-yard line. But Pickens sophomore Kyle West changed the game with a 100-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown, putting the Dragons ahead 14-6.

“I thought Johnson and their staff did an excellent job tonight. We knew they would be ready to play and they were,” Pickens Coach Chris Parker said.

Luis Hernandez scored on a 5-yard run to put the Knights back into the game. Johnson then converted the two-point conversion to tied it at 14 apiece.

Pickens regained the lead on a 7-yard touchdown run by quarterback Tanner Brumby with 8:52 left in the game.

Needing a score to tie, the Knights’ defense forced the Dragons to punt with 3:45 left to play. After a first-down conversion across the 50-yard line, Johnson still had hopes with 1:55 left to play.

A pass interference call kept the drive alive for the Knights. After Hernandez was stopped for no gain, two passes fell incomplete and the Dragons took over and ran out the clock.

Johnson senior quarterback Chase Sims finished with 34 yards passing and an 18-yard touchdown pass, and 50 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Senior Hernandez was the game’s leading rusher, finishing with 120 yards on the ground.

Junior running back Shannon Brooks from Pickens finished with 68 total yards on the ground.