Tiger Jake Leete scored three touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough as Dawson County Middle School lost to Jasper Middle School, 34-22, on Thursday.

Dawson held a slim lead with five minutes remaining in the game, but big plays hurt the Tigers. The team fell to a 1-3 record for the season.

This week Dawson will play Union County in Blairsville. The Panthers run a spread offense and will test the Tiger defense.

“It was a dog fight the entire game,” said Head Coach Thomy Edwards. “Jake Leete played a great game at running back, scoring all three touchdowns from more than 10 yards out. But mistakes killed us with a fumble and an interception. Other than those two hiccups I thought our line blocked well and our backs ran hard.”

Jasper scored five touchdowns, all from more than 40 yards out.

“We just couldn’t stop the big play,” Edwards said. “We are going to work on tackling all week.”

The middle of Dawson’s defense played well behind the efforts of Jake Phillips, Tucker Welling, Corey Voyles and Conor Woodbury.

“We have a tough game against Union and we have to go there. They like to run the spread and our defense will have to be ready,” Edwards said.