Dawson in Demand

Tucker High School has a rising senior football player with a problem. He currently has gotten early collegiate scholarship offers from no less than 14 schools and has a lot of deciding to do, but that’s a good problem. Defensive end Josh Dawson, 6-4 and about 220 pounds, is completing his junior year at Tucker and has made an impact on two Tigers teams that finished a combined 22-4.

In 2009 as a sophomore, Dawson played 12 games and made nine solo tackles – one for a loss – and two sacks. As a more active junior in 2010, he played in all 14 games and recorded 41.5 solo tackles – 13 of them for a loss – assisted on five tackles, caused four fumbles and added 13.5 sacks – third best among all DeKalb County schools playing football.

Dawson’s scholarship offers include SEC schools Georgia, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. His ACC offers have come from Duke, North Carolina State, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. Notre Dame made an offer last Sunday.   

Dawson talked to Tucker Patch about his game. “I’m an all-around defensive end,” he said. “I play the run, play the pass well and get after the quarterback.” Despite all of his early scholarship offers, Dawson said he is still hoping to pick up some more interest from Alabama, Auburn, Clemson and Georgia Tech.

Dawson’s grade-point-average has been reported as high as 3.6, according to Yahoo Sports. “My parents take a lot of pride in my academics,” he said. “Academics come first, athletics second.” For those who view Tucker High as only a football factory, remember that two key seniors – QB Norman Hayes and LB James Vaughters – are headed to Harvard and Stanford, respectively.

Dawson has his eye on engineering and architecture as future endeavors. When one hears the word engineer coming from a high school football player, the natural question to ask is where is Georgia Tech? Tucker has sent many players to the University of Georgia but a connection between Georgia Tech and Tucker High is difficult to find.

The 2011 Tucker Tigers will lack the experience of last year’s team, but Dawson is undaunted. “We’re starting to click on both offense and defense,” he said. “The sky’s the limit.” One can say the same about Dawson’s future, so long as he continues on his current trajectory.