Newspaper Page Text
The ADVANCE, September 27,2023/Page 12B
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Photo by TCHS
The TCHS Esports team competes in preseason action.
TCHS Esports Gearing Up
Photo by TCHS
The Bulldogs cross country team takes off at the start of the Bulldog Invitational.
TCHS Host Cross Country Meet
Courtesy of TCHS
The Toombs County
High School Bulldogs Es
ports Varsity teams have
emerged from the pre
season with an unblem
ished record, setting high
expectations for their up
coming regular season
campaigns.
The Bulldogs’ Spla-
toon 3 team kicked off
their preseason journey
with a bang, facing the
Greenfield Green Wave of
Greenfield, Massachusetts
in a thrilling contest. In
the Turfwar round, the
Bulldogs established their
dominance by covering
58.8% of the map, leaving
the Green Wave trailing
behind at 29.5%. The star
of this round was Ethan
Heath, who secured an im
pressive 12 splats and un
leashed 3 specials.
The second round wit
nessed the Bulldogs secur
ing a swift knockout vic
tory in Rainmaker, with
Christian Castro leading
the charge with 8 Splats
and 3 specials. The final
round sealed the deal for
the Bulldogs, as they
claimed victory in Splat
Zones with a commanding
score of 99-29. Christian
Castro once again stood
out with an impressive 22
Splats and 3 Specials.
Continuing their win
ning streak, the Bulldogs
faced the Novi Wildcats of
Novi, Michigan, in their
second preseason contest
of week two, which ended
in another resounding 3-0
shutout victory. In the first
round, Turfwar belonged
to the Bulldogs, with a
57.2% map coverage com-
Courtesy of BPC
Brewton-Parker College
Cross Country ran in familiar
territory as they hosted the
Brewton-Parker Invitational
on Friday evening for the
program’s first-ever home
meet.
Women
Brewton-Parker College
Women’s Cross Country
stayed on campus for the
program’s first-ever home
meet in Mount Vernon on
Friday evening.
The Lady Barons were
highlighted by a pair of top-
10 finishes while securing
fourth on home soil, hosting
a total of eight schools for the
5Krace.
“Very exciting day for
our program,” Head Coach
James Frank said. “It was
great having hometown sup
port cheering us on. I believe
our girls did a great job repre
senting our campus, they ran
a solid race on our home
course.”
BPC was led by Karen
Garcia, who secured fifth
place in the 39-runner field,
crossing the finish line with a
time of23:55.46. Garcia was
followed by Jayda Spikes,
who secured 10th with a
pared to the Wildcat’s
30.5%. Jack Williams led
the charge with 7 splats
and 3 specials. The follow
ing round saw the Bulldogs
securing another knockout
Rainmaker victory, thanks
to Christian Castro’s stellar
performance, contributing
8 Splats and 3 specials. In
the final round, the Bull
dogs completed their
sweep with another knock
out victory, this time led
by Jack Williams, who tal
lied an impressive 13 splats
and 3 specials.
The Splatoon 3 team
is now poised for regular
season action, aiming to
return to the Georgia
League finals, where they
narrowly missed out on
the State Championship
title last Fall.
But the Bulldogs’ Es
ports prowess doesn’t stop
at Splatoon 3. The Toombs
County Varsity Mario Kart
8 Deluxe team has also
been riding a wave of suc
cess during the preseason.
In the first week, they se
cured a flawless 2-0 victory
over Sebastian River High
School from Sebastian,
Florida. The winning
streak continued in the
second week, as they re
peated their 2-0 triumph
over the Irwin County In
dians from Ocilla, Georgia.
As the Mario Kart
team gears up for the regu
lar season, they have their
sights set on surpassing
their semifinal appearance
from last Fall.
JV
Even the junior varsity
(JV) squads have shown
tremendous promise dur
ing the preseason. Despite
the unique challenge of
competing against varsity
time of 25:31.87 to surpass
her collegiate-best time by
nearly a minute.
Jaleah Rhett completed
the race in a time of28:36.11
for 24th and was followed by
Anders Ignoffo in 29th with
a time of 30:17.31. Kayla
Phipps rounded out the Lady
Barons in 33rd, finishing
with a time of33:42.46.
Men
Brewton-Parker College
Men’s Cross Country ran in
familiar territory as they
hosted the Brewton-Parker
Invitational on Friday eve
ning for the program’s first-
ever home meet.
The Barons were able to
defend home soil and secure
the team title in a dominating
fashion over seven other
schools that were repre
sented in the 8K race in
Mount Vernon.
“I’m thrilled about to
day’s result,” Head Coach
James Frank said. “The guys
did well today. They ran a
smart race, and it paid off’
“We had a handful of
personal bests, and it was
great that we were able to run
in front of a home crowd this
evening,” Frank added. “Very
thankful for all who sup
ported us today”
teams, the JV Splatoon 3
team started strong with an
undefeated week one,
boasting wins over Bishop
Ludden of Syracuse, New
York, and Windermere
High School from Winder-
mere, Florida. Although
they faced a formidable
opponent in Mater Acad
emy of Hialeah, Florida, in
week two, their dominant
shutout win against the
Somerset Golden Eagles of
Somerset, Pennsylvania,
reaffirmed their potential.
The JV Mario Kart
team faced stiff competi
tion during the preseason,
with losses to Connecticut
powerhouses Kingsford
Oxford and M.T. Sheehan,
both of whom made the
Connecticut Mario Kart 8
Deluxe semifinals last sea
son. Nevertheless, the
team is determined to
bounce back during the
regular season.
Both JV teams are set
to continue their Esports
journey in the regular sea
son with renewed determi
nation and the invaluable
experience gained during
the preseason. The
Toombs County Bulldogs
Esports program is poised
for a remarkable season
ahead, with their varsity
and JV teams showing
great promise as they aim
for victory in the Esports
arena.
To watch livestreams
of all Toombs County
Bulldogs Esports action,
visit their Twitch Channel
at www.twitch.tv/toomb-
sesports and to learn more
about the fastest growing
sport in high school athlet
ics, and visit their website
at www.toombsesports.
com.
A total of ten Barons
competed in the 46-man
field, four of which finished
in the top 10 individually.
DeMario Thomas led BPC
with a time of 29:10.90 to
finish third while DJ Chris
tensen was right behind,
crossing the line at 29:15.04
for a fourth-place finish and
for a new collegiate-best
time.
Jonah Galli finished the
race in sixth place with a time
of 29:20.53, beating his pre
vious personal best by 40 sec
onds. Gabriel Wrye rounded
out the top ten with a 10th-
place finish, recording a time
of30:04.89.
Wrye was followed by
Jordan Hackett (11 th,
30:10.35) and Eric Smith
(12th, 30:18.77), who both
got new personal bests. Bran
don Williams (18th,
32:18.33) came in next, with
Jabril Muhammad (24th,
34:02.21) behind him. Trey
Reid (33rd, 37:08.99) and
Anthony Ferrie (36th,
38:21.19) rounded out the
race for the Barons.
The Barons will be back
in action this Saturday at the
Alexander ASICS XC Invita
tional hosted by Clayton
State (Ga.).
Courtesy of TCHS
The 5th Annual Bull
dog Invitational was run
on Thursday of last week
on the campus of Toombs
County High School. The
event was another success
ful one, with over 600 run
ners and more than 30
teams competing in the
By Mike Branch
Sports Editor
sports 7 advance@gmaii. com
The Eagles football
team of Vidalia Heritage
Academy suffered their
first loss of the season last
Friday night as they hosted
Holy Ground Baptist
Academy. It was a close,
high scoring game, but
VELA came up just short.
Heritage put the first
points of the game on the
board in the first quarter
with just over six minutes
on the clock. Trevor White
took it in from three yards
out for the touchdown.
The did not get the two-
point conversion, but
VELA was up 6-0.
Heritage added an
other touchdown on a big
65-yard run by Dalton
Price with less than a min
ute to play in the first quar
ter. White added the two-
point conversion to put
Heritage on top 14-0.
The Stallions of Holy
Ground quickly answered
as they broke a big run to
close the lead to 14-6 at the
BPC
continued from page 1 IB
ter a tight first-half battle in
which BPC produced a solid
defensive effort in the first 45
minutes of play.
“Dalton State is a good
team, Coach Saif has them
playing well,” Head Coach
Bob Neumann said. “With as
many injuries as we currently
have, we will have to mature
quickly if we’re going to be
able to be competitive over
the rest of this campaign.”
Dalton State’s offensive
efforts came out firing early
with five shots and four cor
ner kicks within the first 15
minutes before breaking
through the scoreless draw
with a goal in the 16th min-
event.
Coach Jeremy Moore
said, “On the girls' side,
each of our girls ran PR’s
for the season. We have
two girls out currently try
ing to recover from inju
ries, so the five that are
running stepped up big
time.
“On the boys' side, we
continue to be competi-
end of the first.
Early in the second
quarter, Price took it in
from 10 yards out to in
crease the Eagle lead to 20-
0. The Stallions added a
touchdown with just over
three minutes left in the
first half to make the score
20-12, with VELA on top.
Holy Ground tied the
game at 20-20 with just
over a minute left in the
first half on a passing
touchdown. They tacked
on the two-point conver
sion for the 20-20 tie. They
then got the ball back and
just before the end of the
half the Stallions found the
end zone again, this time
on a 70-yard run. They
didn't get the two-point
try, but that gave them
their first lead of the night,
26-20.
In the third quarter,
VHA went back in front
with a touchdown pass
from Jake Adams to Dylan
Green. White went in on
the two-point conversion
to put VHA on top 28-26.
VHA extended the lead to
ute for the early lead.
The Roadrunners con
tinued to apply heavy pres
sure to the BPC bacldine, fir
ing shot after shot to record a
total of 10 more attempts to
ward the net. Despite the
first-half offensive struggles
for BPC, the highlight for the
Barons was Andrea Abwe as
he stood strong between the
posts, notching a total of
three saves in the first half.
Manny Marin gave the
Barons a chance to level the
score in the 49th minute with
a shot finding the hands of
the DSC keeper, but that was
the lone shot before the hosts
swiftly changed the tune of
the match with a pair of goals
in just a five-minute span for a
3-0 lead.
The doors were blown
tive. We finished in the top
third of the race as a team.
We continue to have differ
ent runners step up each
week. If we can continue to
work hard each day and
improve our times like we
have been so far, I believe
both teams will be in good
position to qualify for the
State Meet this season.”
34-26 with a two-yard
touchdown run by White
with just over a minute left
in the third quarter.
But in the fourth quar
ter of the game with nine
minutes to play, Holy
Ground found the end
zone on a pass to close the
lead to 34-32. They took
the lead, 38-34, with seven
minutes to go on a rushing
touchdown.
Less than a minute
later, Heritage was back on
top with a run by Hardy
Franklin and a two-point
conversion by White. Her
itage led 44-38.
But with less than one
minute to go in the game,
Holy Ground got back into
the end zone on a pass play
to take the lead, 44-42.
They tacked on the two-
point try to lead 46-42.
And that was the way the
game ended with Heritage
falling, 46-42.
This week VHA looks
to bounce back at Sher
wood Christian on Friday
night at 7:30 p.m. in Al
bany.
off later in the second half as
the Barons’ defense collapsed
to the Roadrunners in an of
fensive showing that resulted
in five more goals in the final
35 minutes of regulation.
Dalton State rattled off 20
shots in the second half while
the Barons recorded just four
attempts, as the Roadrunners
finished with an 8-0 score
line.
Dalton State led 36-4 in
overall shot attempts while
also leading 17-3 in shots on
goal. Abwe finished the eve
ning with nine total saves for
BPC to lead the defensive ef
forts. Offensively, Manny
Marin led BPC with two
shots on goal while Rayane
Sid Ahmed and Danny
Guerra both recorded shots.
BPC Hosts 1 st Cross County Meet
Photo by Mike Branch
Dalton Price breaks free for a 65-yard touchdown in the first half of the Eagles' game
against Holy Ground.
VHA Falls To Stallions