Newspaper Page Text
The ADVANCE, August 30, 2023/Page 12B
(Eift Aiiuancg
Loran
continued from page 1B
with his late wife, Cecelia,
the toast of the state and
the university often since
a wedding gift in 1956 led
to the Uga dynasty which
brought such glory to old
Georgia.
A certain amount of
celebrity came with being
the Ugas’ caretaker, but it
was a far greater respon
sibility than most fans
realized. The day-to-day
maintenance and chores
could only be managed
with much tender loving
care and the Seiler’s of
fered that in abundance.
A graduate of the
UGA Law School, Sonny
became the quintessential
Uga historian, manager
and friend with the aiding
and abetting of Cecilia
and the children to whom
the reigning Uga was the
family pet.
Sonny was an athlete
who swam for the accom
plished Bump Gabrielsen
at UGA. (He once swam
the river from Savannah
to Tybee.) Before that,
he played basketball at
Newberry. Friends kid
ded him about guarding
Furman’s legendary Frank
Selvy when Selvy scored
100 points against the
Wolves in 1954. That
was not exactly accurate
but became great conver
sational fodder among his
close friends.
An accomplished
practical joker, Sonny
was imbued with a qual
ity that few of that ilk
have. He could dish it
out, but he could take it.
If the joke was on him, he
laughed the loudest and
then schemed to get you
back.
In the courtroom, he
was as competitive as any
lawyer, his big moment
centered around a murder
trial involving an antique
dealer and a paramour
which led to a book,
“Midnight in the Garden
of Good and Evil,” which
became a Clint Eastwood
movie in which Sonny
played the part of a judge.
If you knew him, you
likely would agree that it
would be difficult to de
termine which Sonny en
joyed or loved more—his
native Savannah or Ath
ens.
He never wanted to
live anywhere but Savan
nah, but always gloried in
any sojourn to the Classic
City. For sure, he loved
his hometown, and like
so many Bulldog aficiona
dos, he held equal affec
tion for his favorite insti
tution.
You saw that fire-
engine Chevrolet sta
tion wagon parked at the
Georgia Center, cruising
about town and parked at
places such as the book
store and Sanford Stadi
um. It always attracted a
crowd even in the hinter
lands as the family jour
neyed to Athens for home
game weekends. Places
like Louisville, Soper-
ton, Vidalia, Wrightsville,
Tennille, Sandersville,
and Sparta—depending
on the route the Seilers
took to Athens for home
game weekends.
Kids adored Uga.
They would knock on the
door of the Seiler homes
in Savannah and ask to
take Uga for a walk. They
engulfed him at the Geor
gia Center on the week
ends and considered it the
ultimate privilege to walk
the grounds with Uga un
der the giant pecan trees
which line the property.
I will always be in
debted to the Seiler’s for
naming two of the Uga’s
for me and hold dear
those many unforgettable
times I fished with Uga
on Sonny’s boat, “Silver
Britches.” Sonny was ex
pert at fishing and knew
the rivers in the marshes
around Savannah like the
back of his hand.
We would catch trout
and bass, bring them to
the Seiler dock at their
home on Dutch Island.
Sonny would clean them,
something at which he
was skillful, and Cecelia
would cook them with an
expertise that would turn
the heads of seasoned
chefs in New Orleans.
Sonny was well read,
he enjoyed playing golf at
the Savannah Golf Club,
which he would tell you
was the oldest club in the
country, and never tired
of hosting Uga in the St.
Patrick’s Day parade.
The chapel bell ring
ing, a Budweiser in the
Uga suite with his clos
est friends, a hamburger
at Allen’s, any milestone
or significant tribute that
came to Savannah or
UGA, gave him the great
est of highs.
The Uga dynasty has
been great for the Univer
sity, and it took a special
family to help bring that
about. Sorrowfully, we
lost Cecilia in 2014 and
now we have lost the pa
triarch.
Long live the Uga’s.
TCHS
continued from page 1B
nings, allowing five runs
(four earned) on eight
hits. Stringer struck out
six Pirates while walking
two. Kassidy Brantley
and Casey Cantwell each
contributed one hit for
the Dawgs.
vs. Vidalia
The Toombs County
Varsity Lady Dawgs Soft-
ball team secured a sig
nificant 2-0 win against
Vidalia in a thriller last
Thursday afternoon in
Lyons.
A nail-biting duel en
sued right from the start,
with both teams show
casing their prowess in
the pitcher’s circle. How
ever, the Lady Dawgs
eventually prevailed due
to their solid defense and
timely hitting.
The breakthrough
came in the fourth in
ning, when Shaylin
Stringer reached on an
error. This was followed
by hits from Kassidy
Brantley and Natalie
Quintero. Mishi Smith
came in to pinch hit and
came through with a big
single into shallow right
field that drove in two
runs, setting the Lady
Dawgs on the path to vic
tory.
Key players like
Brantley and Quintero
proved instrumental in
this victory. Brantley de
livered a commendable
performance, going
2-for-3 at the plate.
Meanwhile, Quintero
demonstrated her skills
with two singles and a
sac bunt. Smith finished
the day with a single and
a hit by pitch.
Stringer, who started
the game on the mound
for the Lady Dawgs,
pitched an incredible
game. She struck out
seven Indians over seven
innings, and kept the In
dians off the board on
the way to the 2-0 win.
Toombs is now 5-4
on the season, and they
are 2-1 in Region play.
This week Toombs was at
East Laurens on Monday
and at Brantley County
on Tuesday, both after
presstime. They will be
back in action on
Wednesday at Long
County at 5:30 p.m., and
then on Thursday they
will host the Lady Bears
of Pierce County in an
other big Region game,
with the first pitch at
6:00 p.m.
Brewton-Parker Volleyball
Splits Season Opener
Courtesy of BPC
Brewton-Parker Col
lege Women’s Volleyball
opened the 2023 season
on the road with a tri
match against Trinity
Baptist (Fla.) and Toccoa
Falls (Ga.) on Saturday.
The Lady Barons (1-
1) split the day, opening
with a sweep of Trinity
Baptist (0-2) before fol
lowing up with a tough
loss to Toccoa Falls (2-0)
in a 3-0 defeat.
“It was exciting to be
able to get the season
started,” Coach Obed
Quiles said. “We strug
gled a little bit on the of
fensive side, but we
played great defense.
Time to get back to work
and get better.”
Brewton-Parker
opened with a sluggish
first set against Trinity
Baptist, yet finished off
with a 25-21 win for the
early lead. The Lady Bar
ons took control of the
second set and solidified
a dominant 25-8 victory
for a two-set advantage.
BPC closed out the match
with a secure win in set
three, taking the final
frame 25-16 for the sweep
over the Eagles.
The Lady Barons
challenged the hosts after
the opening win and bat
tled hard against the
Screaming Eagles but fell
just shy. In set one, TFC
slipped past BPC in a 25-
22 victory before taking a
2-0 lead with a 25-19 win
in set two. Toccoa Falls
secured the sweep over
Brewton-Parker with a
25-13 win in the third
and final set.
The Lady Barons will
be back in action next
weekend when they travel
to Brunswick, Ga., on
Sept. 1-2 to compete at
the Bash at the Beach
hosted by Coastal Geor
gia.
Photo by Mike Branch
Elijah Baker breaks an 83-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half,
RTCA
continued from page IB
out. Tripp Durden scored
the final time for RTCA
from 29 yards out. Meeks
got another extra point
for a 48-6 lead with just
over 10 minutes left to
play, and with a running
clock.
Harvester did score
one more time to make
the final score 48-12, with
RTCA cruising to a win.
The top three offen
sive players of the game
were Hill with 84 rushing
yards. Powell with 72
rushing yards, and Dur
den with 28 rushing
yards. The top three de
fensive players of the
game were Landen Sauls
with 5 tackles, David Hill
with 4 tackles and 1 inter
ception, and Jayden Toole
with 2 interceptions.
Head Coach Matt
Meeks said, "The crowd
Friday night was awe
some again. It was a fan
tastic venue to host and
honor our '73, '03, and
T3 State Championship
football teams, cheerlead
ers, coaches, and support
staff.
“I think the team had
a great rebound game
coming off of a tough loss
against Pinewood. I am
extremely pleased with
how we played. Offen
sively, we moved the ball
well and the touches were
fairly evenly distributed
that way you never really
knew who was going to be
getting the ball. I am ex
tremely proud of the guys
and the work and the ef
fort they are putting in for
us. With that being said,
we enjoy the win over
Harvester, but now it's
time to shift our focus on
Portal for this upcoming
Thursday."
RTCA will be back at
home this Thursday as
they host the Panthers of
Portal with kickoff at 7:3 0
p.m.
VHS Runs At Bob Blastow
Photo Courtesy of VHS
Cash Driggers runs for VHS at Bob Blastow.
Courtesy of VHS
The Vidalia High
School cross country
teams continued to make
noise early in the 2023
season, with a good show
ing at the Bob Blastow
Invitational in Whites-
burg, GA.
In a large field with
over 200 athletes in each
race, the Indians and
Lady Indians continued
to put up impressive
numbers. Georgia Mere
dith continued to shine,
bringing home a 6th place
finish with a time of
20:33. Meanwhile, fresh
man Judith Hussey, who
was running in just her
2nd 5k cross country
race, turned in a 4-minute
personal best of 25:16.
On the boy’s side,
Andrew Hodges exceeded
his personal best, running
a 17:00.14. Cash Drig
gers broke through the
18-minute barrier for the
first time, running a
17:56.
“This team continues
to impress and improve
each week,” said Vidalia
Head Coach Mandy God-
bee. “They are commit
ted to the process with
their sights on the region
and State Champion
ship.”
Both teams will hit
the road on Thursday,
August 31, to compete at
Dodge County at the Run
the Reservation Invita
tional.
Redskins Defeat Vikings
By Mike Branch
Sports Editor
sports 7 advance@gmail. com
The Vikings football
team of Treutlen County
High School was at home
last Friday night to face
the Redskins of Bryan
County High School. It
was a rough night for the
Vikings as they could not
find the end zone as
Bryan took a 51-0 vic
tory.
Things started out
on the wrong foot for the
Vikings as they fumbled
early into their first drive
of the game. Bryan took
advantage of the short
field and found the end
zone on the first play
from scrimmage on a 16-
yard pass play. They
tacked on the extra point
to take a 7-0 lead just
over a minute into the
game.
That was the only
score in the first quarter
of the game, but in the
second quarter the Red
skins began to pull away.
Bryan added the next
touchdown on a short
run and then scored
again a few minutes later
on a 25-yard touchdown.
They added one more
score on a 5-yard run to
hold a 26-0 lead heading
to halftime.
With just over six
minutes to go in the third
quarter the Redskins
were back in for another
touchdown. That put
them on top 33-0. In the
fourth quarter Bryan
added three more touch
downs on the way to the
51-0 win over Treutlen.
This week the Vi
kings will be on the road
as they travel to Ludo-
wici to take on Long
County with kickoff at
7:30 p.m.