Newspaper Page Text
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
MCHS at Bryan Co. 7:30 in Pembroke
RTCA at St. Andrews 7:30 in Savannah
Listen to on NewsTalk 970 AM 105.3 FM - WVOP
TCHS at Brantley Co. 8:00 in Lyons
Listen to on 100.9 FM WLYU
VHS OFF
Listen to on 97.7 FM WTCQ
VHA at Sherwood 7:30 in Albany
Wheeler VS. Dooly Co. 7:30 in Alamo (Homecoming)
Treutlen vs. Wilcox Co. 7:30 in Soperton
Listen to on 101.7 FMWYUM
All game broadcasts streamed live at www.southeastgeorgiatoday.com
tcbbroadcasting.com
September 27,2023
®fft Ahuante
Section B
Loran
Smith
Rememb ering
Pat Dye
A journey over to Auburn always
brings about reflections of times spent
with Pat Dye on his farm near Nota-
sulga, Alabama,
which is a little
less than 13
miles from the
campus where
he spent almost
a dozen years as
head football
coach and ath
letic director.
After that, he
was something
of a goodwill
ambassador
and fundraiser
for the school and was forever a popu
lar icon in the community. He won
four SEC championships during his
decade as a mover and shaker at Au
burn.
That endeared him to the War Ea
gle community, but a couple of deci
sions he made as athletic director were
perhaps more significant—one for
certain: He forced the Iron Bowl game
out of Birmingham to the campuses at
Tuscaloosa and Auburn.
Playing that regular season ending
game in Birmingham should have been
a slam dunk in that you would think
that there are as many Auburn alumni
and fans in the city as Alabama aficio
nados.
Pat didn’t feel good about the
game being played at Legion Field all
those years, however. He believed the
business and government hierarchy in
Birmingham favored Alabama, but his
big motivation was that he wanted the
merchants and businessmen of Au
burn to have the financial largesse that
came with a home and home arrange
ment in alternate years. Moreover,
there was that pride of playing the big
gest game of the year at home.
One chilly November Day, I drove
over to Notasulga to spend an after
noon with Pat whom I knew dating
back to his playing days under Wallace
Butts at Georgia.
He took me on a tour of his farm,
acreage which he treasured deeply. As
the mud, resulting from recent rains,
flew in my direction as we rambled
over hill and dale, he pontificated as
he often would do when time was not
of essence.
He had keen insights and was a
man of common-sense judgment. He
was never reluctant to “tell it like it is.”
Please see Loran page 13B
By Loran Smith
Coastal Carolina
Statesboro
7:00 p.m., NFL Network
Bowling Green
Atlanta
3:30 p.m., ACC Network
Auburn
Auburn, AL
3:30 p.m., CBS
RTCA Holds Homecoming
Courtesy of RTCA
Robert Toombs Christian Academy's
Crusaders defeated Georgia Christian
Friday night for their Homecoming
Game. It was a dominant performace
from RTCA as they rolled to a 49-0 win.
During halftime of the game the home
coming queen and princess were
crowned. The 2023 Homecoming Queen
was Haylie Right, and the Homecoming
Princess was Kylie Acosta.
RTCA wasted no time putting points
on the board as David Hill broke free on
the first play of the game for a 76-yard
touchdown. Hayden Meeks added the
PAT for a 7-0 lead. Hill added another
touchdown later in the first quarter on a
17-yard run as RTCA took a 14-0 lead
after the Meeks extra point.
In the second quarter the Crusaders
put the game out of reach for Georgia
Christian. Elijah Baker scored on a 63-
yard run, and Aaron Hankerson added a
79-yard touchdown as RTCA took con
trol.
Hayden Right found Tripp Durden
for an 18-yard touchdown pass, and then
just as the half was coming to an end, they
connected on a 61-yard touchdown.
In the second half it was a running
*
Photo by Mike Branch
(L to R): Father Brick Acosta, Princess Kylie Acosta, Queen Haylie Kight, and father
Buddy Kight.
clock, and RTCA added just one more Hill led the way with 132 yards on
score with Hankerson taking it in from 14 the ground and 2 touchdowns. Right
yard out. RTCA cruised to the 49-0 win
over Georgia Christian. Please see RTCA P a 9 e 3B
TCHS Bulldogs Win Big
Photo by TCHS
Toombs County's Hayden Roy goes in for a touchdown as the Bulldogs take care of
business at Tattnall County.
Courtesy of TCHS
On Friday, the Toombs County High
School Bulldogs football team opened
Region play on the road in Reidsville
against the Tattnall County Battle Creek
Warriors. Toombs County entered the
game at 4-0 and Ranked #9 in Class AA
football. The Dogs had a few miscues to
battle back from in the first quarter, but
after the quarter ended 0-0, it was all
Toombs County the rest of the game.
On the Dogs 1 first drive of the second
quarter, Hayden Roy and the Toombs
County offensive Line pushed their way
into the end zone for their first score of
the night on a 4-yard run by Roy. Braylen
Dietrich kicked the point after through to
give the Dogs a 7-0 lead with 9:53 re
maining in the half.
The Red Bullet defense man-handled
the Warrior offense all night, and on the
next drive, forced another Warrior punt.
The Dogs got the ball back with 7:54 re
maining and drove 67 yards on 5 plays
highlighted by another spectacular run by
Roy where he rolled over a Warrior de
fensive back and continued on his way to
the end zone for a 15 yard touchdown.
The Bulldog lead was pushed to 14-0.
After getting the ball back with 2:28,
the offense went into 2-minute mode and
scatted down the field. This drive was
highlighted by a TJ Stanley to LaGonza
Heyward 5 3-yard pass. Dabyn Wadley
finished off the drive with a 2 yard TD
run. The Bulldogs took a 21-0 lead into
the half.
Please see TCHS page 10B
Vidalia Indians Pound Knights
Courtesy of VHS
The Vidalia High School In
dians used a powerful running
game and a hard-hitting, smoth
ering defense to defeat Windsor
Forest 29-6 Friday night in Sa
vannah in the Region 3AA
opener for both teams. With the
win, the Indians moved to 3-2
overall and 1 -0 in Region play.
The Indians wasted little
time putting points on the board
on the 2nd play from scrimmage.
Following a nice kick return to
the Rnights’ 49-yard line, Jamar-
ion Phillips ran off the right side
for 3 yards to make in 2nd and 7.
On the very next play, senior
Antonio Barron swept right,
avoided three would-be tacklers,
and sprinted 46 yards for the
touchdown. And, less than a
minute into the game, the Indi
ans led 6-0. Adam Crutchfields
PAT hit the right upright and fell
no good, and the score remained
6-0. It was Crutchfield’s first miss
in 12 attempts.
The Indians’ defense then
took over, forcing Windsor For
est to punt on their next posses
sion and then held on a fourth
down on their following posses
sion to give the Indians the ball
on their own 30-yard line. From
there, it only took four plays for
the Indians to add to their total.
On a first down from the
Rnights 40-yard line, Omarion
Oglesby took the handoff, fol
lowed some good blocking, and
outran Windsor Forest defend
ers 40 yards for the score. The
Indians loaded up in a wishbone
backfield for the two-point try,
which was successful, and with
6:15 to go in the half, the Indians
led 14-0.
But on the ensuing drive,
Windsor Forest got their only
points of the night on a 3-yard
Touchdown run by Anthony
Williams to cap off a 9-play 84-
yard drive, which was aided by
two Vidalia penalties, which ex
tended the drive. The point-after
try was no good, and with 57
seconds left in the half, Vidalia
led 14-6.
The Indians’ offense used
their two-minute offense to
move the ball from their 27-yard
line all the way to the Rnights’
22-yard line, with Indian quar
terback Jackson Berry hooking
up with three different receivers.
The big shot came on a throw
across the middle to sophomore
DJ Wallace, who caught a ball
underneath at the Rnights 43-
yard line and, sprinted to the In
dian sideline at the 22-yard line,
and appeared to get out of
bounds with one second to go in
the half. However, the referee
ruled that time had expired, and
the Indians went to the half lead
ing 14-6.
The second half was much
Please see VHS page 3B
SOFTBALL
MCHS vs. Johnson Co., ECI
Wed. 5:30 p.m. (H); Thur. 5:30 p.m. (A)
RTCA vs. Thomas Jefferson
Thur. 6:00 p.m. (H)
TCHS vs. Appling Co., Vidalia
Thur. 6:00 p.m. (A); Sat. 10:30 a.m. (A)
VHS vs. Tattnall Co., Toombs Co.
Thur. 6:00 p.m. (H); Sat. 10:30 a.m. (H)
Treutlen vs. Swainsboro, Wilcox Co.
Wed. 5:30 p.m. (H); Thur. 4:00 p.m. (A, DH)
Wheeler vs. Hawkinsville
Thur. 5:30 p.m. (A)
VHA OFF