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FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
MCHS vs. Wilcox Co. 7:30 in Rochelle
RTCA 1st Round Bye
Listen to on NewsTalk 970 AM 105.3 FM - WVOP
TCHS at Putnam Co. 7:30 in Eatonton
Listen to on 100.9 FM WLYU
VHA vs. Fideles Christian 7:30 in vidaiia
Wheeler vs McIntosh Co. Aca. 7:30 in Darien
All game broadcasts streamed live at
www.southeastgeorgiatoday.com
tcbbroadcasting.com
November 9, 2022
®lft Aiuianre
Section B
Loran
Smith
Tennessee
Aftermath
With the arrival of Kirby Smart in
Athens, there has been a remarkable
reaction from
the Georgia fan
base. When he
asks for help,
the Bulldog
faithful always
responds affir
matively.
In the spring
of his first year
on the job, Kir
by told the fans
that it would be
nice if they filled
up the stadium
for the spring game. Guess what? They
did. G-Day games have been well at
tended since.
He didn’t ask them to turn out in
droves for out-of-town games, but Dawg
fans really travel well. South Bend, bowl
games and playoff games. UGA advo
cates sap up a majority of tickets for
road venues, especially Vanderbilt and
Georgia Tech where there is an abun
dance of tickets available.
At Grant Field, red and black domi
nates. It is more like a home game for
the players when they hear the uplifting
cheers from the East stands at storied
Bobby Dodd Stadium.
BK (before Kirby), it was not a tra
dition for the students to come early
and to be in place at kickoff. It is now.
Why? Because Kirby asked them to.
A Georgia fan from Dallas on Sun
day morning was hoarse as he visited
family and friends. “I lost my voice,” he
said, “because my leader, Kirby Smart,
asked me to cheer every snap, and I did
what he asked me to do.”
It is obvious that such fan sup
port can be helpful when a big game
takes place. A raucous home crowd that
causes opposing teams to experience
difficulty hearing the snap count can
bring about positive results. (Tennes
see was called for six motion penalties
last weekend and gave up six sacks.)
Thunderous vocal support can force a
quarterback to get out of rhythm; never
become comfortable.
From the beginning of his ten
ure at Georgia, the Bulldog coach has
worked to motivate his players to buy
into a commitment that leads to cham
pionships. They have. In only his second
season, his 2017 team played for the Na
tional Championship.
I can’t imagine a coach who has
given more of himself to a program than
Please see Loran page 3B
By Loran Smith
Louisiana
Lafayette, LA, 7:30 p.m.
TSN2
Miami
Atlanta, 3:30 p.m.
RSN
Mississippi St.
Starkville, MS, 7:00 p.m.
ESPN
Toombs Over Vidaiia;
Moves Into Playoffs
Photo by Carroll Williams
Caden Marsh splits between two Vidaiia defenders for a big gain for the Bulldogs.
By Matt Lynn
Toombs County High School and
Vidaiia High School's football teams
met in The Pit last Friday night to battle
for a spot in the GHSA State AA Play
offs. Toombs showed up to play and ran
away with a 34-0 win in the cross-county
rivalry to secure their spot in the play
offs.
Vidaiia won the toss but deferred to
the second half giving the Bulldog of
fense the first possession. It was all
Toombs from that point on in the most
dominating victory in the rivalry since
2000.
On the Bulldogs' first drive, TCHS
pounded the ball downfield on a 6-play
83-yard drive capped by a Tamarion
McArthur 57-yard touchdown run. An
gel Morales added the PAT, giving the
Dogs a 7-0 lead with 8:55 to go in the
1 st Quarter.
The TCHS Red Bullet Defense held
the Indians to a 3-and-out and Dog’s of
fense got the ball back with 7:00 to play
in the opening quarter.
Nine plays later, Senior Tank Morris
pushed his way in for another Toombs
County Touchdown increasing the Bull
dog lead to 14-0 after the Morales PAT.
On Vidalia’s next drive, they were
shut down again by the Bulldog defense
and eventually turned the ball over on
downs on the Bulldog 41-yard line with
24 seconds remaining in the first.
After only 7 plays, Sophomore LaG-
onza Heyward found pay dirt on a 21-
yard scamper pushing the Toombs lead
to 21-0 after the Morales PAT. Neithr
team scored over the remainder of the
first half as the Bulldogs took a 21-0 lead
into halftime.
Toombs kicked off to Vidaiia to
start the second half. On this posses
sion, Vidaiia had their best drive of the
night going 12 plays and 53 yards before
the Toombs forced another turnover on
downs on their own 17-yard line.
The Bulldogs answered again on an
83-yard, 12-play drive, that ate 6:07 off
the clock and was finished when Junior
Quarterback Caden Marsh found the
end zone from 12 yards out giving
Toombs a 27-0 lead early in the 4th
Quarter.
The Bulldogs added another score
by Marsh from one yard out with a few
minutes left in the game giving the
Toombs County Bulldogs the 34-0 win,
securing the number 3 seed out of Re
gion 3AA.
The TCHS defense held Vidaiia to
just 132 yards of offense. Toombs con
trolled the game as they held the ball for
over 32 minutes. Toombs had 406 total
yards of offense with 292 on the ground
and 114 in the air.
That moves the Bulldogs on to the
first round of the playoffs where they
will meet Putnam County on the road in
Eatonton at 7:30 p.m. this Friday night.
Crusaders Win Region Title
(L to R, Front): Coach Britt Tabor, Grayson Smesny, Justin Powell, Hayden Meeks, Easton Drew,
Jashaun Powell, Tucker Heath, Andrew Tuck, Hayden Kight, Jayden Toole, Cayden Nance, Tripp
Durden; (Back): Coach Glenn Birkheimer, Adrian Avila, Brittan Tabor, Isaac Holton, Blake Durden,
Coach Jared Durden, Rayce Sharpe, TJ Stanley, Elijah Baker, Reagan Smith, Trent Sikes, Bishop
Lampp, Gage Brantley, Justin Bowers, Aaron Hankerson, Head Coach Jacob Lord, and Coach
Matthew Meeks.
By Mike Branch
Sports Editor
sports 7 advance@gmail.com
The Robert Toombs
Christian Academy Crusad
ers football team claimed the
Region Championship last
Thursday night at against the
Matadors of Memorial Day.
It was the Crusaders first Re
gion Championship since
2016. RTCA was coming off
an upset win over Thomas
Jefferson the week before
and just had to defeat the
Matadors to earn the Region
Championship. They did
that in dominating fashion in
a 43-6 blowout.
RTCA had the ball to
start the game, and on the
first play quarterback TJ
Stanley hit Jashaun Powell
for a 61-yard touchdown
pass. Powell caught the ball
20 yards downfield and out
ran the defense for the score.
Stanley then hit Powell for
the two-point conversion to
put the Crusaders on top
8-0.
Memorial had a few pos
itive plays on their first pos
session, but the RTCA de
fense settled down and
forced the ball over on
downs. RTCA took over at
their own 38-yard line. Elijah
Baker had a good run on the
first play, and Justin Powell
got the call and broke five
tackles and kept his balance
down the sideline for a big
run to the 18-yard line. Jus
tin Powell then took it in for
the score with 7:33 left in
the first quarter. Justin Bow
ers added the extra point to
make it 15-0.
RTCA took the ball back
over with just over four min
utes to go in the first quarter.
They took it all the way to
the Matadors’ 26-yard line
but stalled there and turned
the ball over on downs with
just over 30 seconds left in
the quarter.
In the second quarter
the Crusaders came up with
a big pass play from Stanley
to Jashaun Powell for 60
yards and the touchdown.
RTCA added the extra point
to make it 22-0. RTCA added
another touchdown pass on
a 40-yard completion from
Please see RTCA page 3B
TCHS Cross Country Runs At State
Courtesy of TCHS
On Saturday, the Toombs County
High School Lady Bulldogs Cross Coun
try team competed at the GHSA State
Championships in Carrollton. The girls
qualified by finishing as the Region Run
ners-up in Region 3AA. The girls con
cluded their season by finishing 20th
overall in the Championships.
Mareli Luna led the Bulldogs with a
time of 24:59, Bryleigh Woods ran 25:34,
Noelia Navarez finished in 27:34, Re
becca Para ran 28:31, and Jocelyn Zamo-
rano finished in 30:55.
TCHS Coach Jeremy Moore said,
“This was a good finish to a successful
season. We had a goal of finishing in the
top 20, and the girls went out and ran well
enough to place 20th, so we were happy
with that result. We have one senior, Re
becca Parra, who has been in the program
throughout her high school career, and
Rebecca will be missed. We are hoping
the success we experienced late in the
season will encourage more girls to come
out and get involved in cross country.”