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The ADVANCE, December 27,2023/Page 9B
Photo by Pop-Pop’s Photos
GAPPS State Champions - The Vidalia Heritage Academy Eagles are the GAPPS State
Champions,
2023
continued from page 8B
in Columbus.
This was the Lady
Dawgs’ first trip ever to
the Elite 8 State Tourna
ment in Columbus, and
they came away with
sixth place in the State,
the best finish in school
history.
VHS Cross Country
Led by Andrew
Hodges’ 1st place finish
with a time of 17:15.41,
the VHS Boys Cross
Country Team captured
the Region 3AA Cham
pionship at Toombs
County, out-pacing 2nd
injury from earlier in the
year to make her mark.
TCHS Football
What a season it was
for the TCHS Bulldogs
football team! Toombs
won their cross-county
rivalry game against Vi
dalia to take their share
of the Region 3AA
Championship.
The Bulldogs fin
ished the season as Co-
Region Champions,
along with Appling
County and Pierce
County. Vidalia took the
#4 spot in the Region.
Pierce took the #1 seed
from the Region heading
into the playoffs with
Toombs #2, and Appling
son Bulldogs. This game
featured #4 Toombs vs.
#1 Thomson and was a
thriller to the end.
Toombs pulled out the
win, 41-30, to move into
the Elite 8 fo the first
time since 2008, and also
put them at 11 wins on
the season for the first
time since 2000.
Up next TCHS trav
eled four hours north to
Rockmart High School
in Polk County to face
the Rockmart Yellow
Jackets in the third round
of the Class AA State
Playoffs. It was a tough
game for the Bulldogs as
they fell behind early and
could not catch up to the
ship. That moved RTCA
into the GIAA State Play
offs.
RTCA had a bye in
the first round and then
hosted the Final 4, again
against Memorial Day.
RTCA rolled to another
win over the Matadors,
this time by the score of
49-8. That moved RTCA
into the State Champion
ship.
For the second
straight year the Robert
Toombs Christian Acad
emy Crusaders football
team played for the GIAA
State Championship at
5-Star Stadium at Mercer
University. But sadly
again this season they fell
short of that final win as
they lost in the title game
to the Wildcats of Flint
River Academy. The
Crusaders struggled to
get the offense moving,
and a series of penalties
on two visits to the red
zone in the first half re
ally hurt the Crusaders
momentum. Flint River
won the game 14-7 over
RTCA.
VHA Football
The Eagles of Heri
tage brought home their
second State Football
Championship this sea
son.
The Eagles took care
of business at home in
the Final 4 of the GAPPS
State Playoffs. Heritage
had to take on Peachtree
Academy, who had beat
VHA during the regular
season in the final 30 sec
onds of the game, 22-16.
This time Heritage was
in complete control as
they rolled to a 44-6 vic
tory.
That moved VHA
into the State Champion
ship Game against Trin
ity Christian of Griffin.
VHA won the game over
Trinity, and for the sec
ond time in the past three
years are the State Cham
pions.
Just seven years into
a program that got its
start in the 2017-2018,
they are now a two-time
State Champion. And
this time they did it on
their home turf as they
hosted the Lions of Trin
ity Christian School of
Griffin. It was a high
scoring game with a total
of 116 points scored, but
the Eagles came out on
top to earn the title. Her
itage won the game 68-
42.
MCRD History
The Montgomery
County Recreation De
partment 10U football
team made history on
November 11, as it
claimed its first victory at
the district level. The
team was honored by the
Montgomery County
Commissioners during a
regular monthly meeting
on Monday, November
13.
The young athletes
played a fierce game
against Hawkinsville-Pu-
laski in the first round of
the District Georgia Rec
reation and Parks Asso
ciation (GRPA) tourna
ment, as they shut out
their competitors and
put up 26 points to gain
the win.
VRD Soccer
The Vidalia Recre
ation Department 8U
Soccer All-Stars are Dis
trict and State Champi
ons for the second
straight season.
The 8U All-Stars
won the District Tourna
ment by defeating Glen-
nville in the semifinals
and defeating Lyons in
the Championship match
by the score of 11-2. The
team went on to compete
in the State Tournament
in Madison County.
The 8U All-Stars de
feated Madison County
6-2 on Friday night.
On Saturday, the All-
Stars defeated City of
Jefferson 7-1 in their first
match. The team went up
against Douglas/Coffee
in their next match and
came out victorious by
the score of 5-2. The 8U
All-Stars faced City of
Calhoun in the State
Championship match
and won 3-2.
Conclusion
As you can see, it was
a big year for local athlet
ics as they claimed sev
eral State, Region, and
Area Titles. With the
dedication to sports seen
throughout our commu
nities, we look forward to
the next year in sports
and many more titles to
come.
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Photo by Mike Branch
TCHS Went 11 -2, Into the Elite 8 - 2023 Toombs County Bulldogs Football Team
place Tattnall County by
53 points. Meanwhile,
the Lady Indians had a
strong 2nd-place finish
behind Georgia Mere
dith’s 2nd-place time of
20:12.23.
The VHS cross coun
try team was in Carroll
ton to take part in the
GHSA State AA Champi
onships. The boys as a
team came away with a
fourth place finish, with
Andrew Hodges leading
the pack. In the girls’
meet Georgia Meredith
took third place in the
race as she overcame an
at #3. Toombs was 9-1 on
the year and was the #4
ranked team in the state
in AA. Appling was
ranked #2, with Pierce at
#3 in the state. This is the
first Region Champion
ship for the Bulldogs
since 2000.
In the first round of
the State Playoffs, the
Bulldogs dominated the
Patriots of Southwest
Macon, 64-6.
In the second round
TCHS hit the road to
face the defending AA
State Champion Thorn-
Jackets. The loss ended
an 11-2 season for the
Bulldogs. Rockmart took
the win 45-21.
Toombs’ only two
losses on the season
came to Pierce County,
the eventual State Cham
pions and to the State
Runner-up, Rockmart.
RTCA Football
RTCA hosted the Re
gion Championship
game against Memorial
Day. RTCA dominated
the Matadors as they
rolled to a 63-6 victory
and a Region Champion
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
A SPECIAL GROUP - (L to R, Front): Ashton Snead, Aiden Brown, Kaiden Jordan, Diego
Ramirez, Ky'Lin Snead, Christian Brown, Kace Williamson, Tucker Howell, Kason Ward,
Ethan Snead, Jackson Grier, and Ahmari Nobles; (Back): Commissioner Ginger Morris,
Commissioner Leland Adams, Recreation Director Kendall Bennamon, Commissioner
Chad Kenney, Commissioner Tim Williamson, Coach Nico Snead. Not pictured: Com
missioner Clarence Thomas and Coach David Avilez,
Back-to-Back State Champions - (L to R, Front): Jaxson Snead, Grayson McDade, Brock
Page, Chance Woodruff, Brody Boston, Freddy Fondren III, Blaze Boston, Jayden Epps,
Gabe Strickland, Collier Davis, Jese Cervantes, Jeremiah Pittman, and Hawk Jernigan;
(Back): Coaches Justin Russell, Brandon Boston, and Freddy Fondren.
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