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PAGE 2B
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2020
Sports
continued from 1B
Seven seniors played their
final game for the Knights,
including Peevy, a four-year
starter who scored all 11 of
his points in the first half, 9 of
them in the opening quarter.
Matthew Binns
had a strong second-half
performance, scoring 14 points
to finish with a team-high 16.
Jacob Adams and Laine Jean
Francois tallied 5 points apiece,
while Eliel Saint Louis and
Andrew Richey each finished
with 4.
CORONAVIRUS BRINGS
END TO SPRING
SPORTS SEASON
The coronavirus pandem
ic has affected virtually every
high school sports team in the
county in some form or fashion
this year, but nothing has been
as crashing as the cancellation
of all games for the remainder
of the 2019-2020 academic
year halfway through halfway
through the spring sports sea
son. The cancellation deprived
dozens of seniors a full final
year in uniform and the oppor
tunity to compete in the post
season one final time.
On March 13, in what turned
out to be the final local contest
of the spring sports contest, the
Apalachee boys’ soccer team
edged out rival Winder-Barrow
2-1 at home on the strength of a
70th-minute goal by Jorge Ba-
zan, moving ahead of the Bull-
doggs into first place in the Re
gion 8-AAAAAA standings.
A pair of Apalachee seniors
teamed up for the winning
goal as Nestor Perla broke
away down the right side and
crossed the ball over to Bazan,
who knocked it past Bulldogg
goalkeeper Caylan Barron
with 10:31 remaining for the
eventual match-winner.
After surviving a strong and
aggressive counter-attack by
the Wildcats struck first on a
goal by freshman Jared Rome
ro with 1:04 left before the
halftime buzzer.
The Bulldoggs tied the
match with 25:40 remaining
when a long free kick from
about 50 yards out by Osvaldo
Juarez tipped off the hands of
Apalachee senior keeper Ronal
Galindo and into the net. But
Galindo atoned for the mis
take, coming up with several
big stops down the stretch,
including a spectacular out
stretched save off a line-drive
kick with just over two minutes
left to preserve the victory.
The cancellation of the re
mainder of the season by the
GHSA, which came a few
weeks later in April when Gov.
Brian Kemp ordered the state’s
public schools closed for the
remainder of the academic
year, deprived both teams of
playoff runs. The senior-heavy
Apalachee girls were also de
nied another playoff appear
ance, as were the Winder-Bar
row and Apalachee baseball
teams. Several track and field
athletes were also expected to
compete for state medals.
The virus’ impact has con
tinued to be felt throughout the
fall and winter sports seasons
with teams and individual ath
letes having to quarantine. The
Barrow County School System
also canceled the fall sports
season at the middle school
level.
FOOTBALL COACH,
AD CHANGE AT BCA
Right as the pandemic was
hitting the state and the area,
Bethlehem Christian Acade
my was dealing with another
change as athletic director and
head football coach Gus Felder
resigned in March after just
under a year with the school to
take an assistant strength and
conditioning coaching position
with the NFL’s Carolina Pan
thers.
Felder, a former All-Ameri
can offensive lineman at Penn
State, spent a year with the
Cleveland Browns before be
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Submitted photo
The Winder-Barrow boys’ cross country team won the Region 8-AAAAAA champion
ship meet Oct. 24 in Winder.
Photo by Ben Munro
Apalachee senior pitcher Emily Hodnett had a strong season in helping lead the
Wildcats to a 28-8 finish and the GHSA Class 5A Final Four.
ginning his coaching career,
which has included several
high school and collegiate
stops, including stints as direc
tor of strength and condition
ing under Mark Richt at Miami
from 2016-2018 and assistant
strength coach under Richt at
Georgia from 2014-2015. He
was hired by BCA in April
2019 as the school’s head foot
ball coach and AD following
the dismissal of Lance Fendley
from those duties two months
prior.
The rebuilding Knights
straggled on the gridiron in
Felder’s only season at the
helm, going 1-10.
After a three-month search,
in June the school hired veteran
coach Brace Lane to take over
the football program and Tim
Early to become the new AD.
WINDER-BARROW’S
HOUSE SELECTED TO
NATIONAL SHOWCASE
Winder-Barrow senior in-
fielder/pitcher Brady House,
a Tennessee signee and high
ly-ranked national class of
2021 prospect who has been
projected as a first-round MLB
Draft selection, was selected
to compete in the 18th annual
Perfect Game All-American
Classic, which was held Sept. 4
at Chickasaw Bricktown Ball
park in Oklahoma City.
House got off to a torrid start
during his junior campaign in
2020 before it was halted half
way through due to the corona-
virus pandemic. He hit .653 in
15 games with a .734 on-base
percentage, eye-popping 1.816
OPS, four homers, five dou
bles, three triples, 20 RBIs and
nine stolen bases in 10 attempts
out of the leadoff spot in the
batting order.
House, who served primar
ily as the team’s closer last
spring, was also dominant on
the mound, finishing with a
0.88 ERA and 16 strikeouts in
just eight innings of work be
fore the remainder of the sea
son was canceled.
BULLDOGGS PREVAIL
IN ANNUAL
BATTLE OF BARROW
After a two-week delay to
the start of the high school
football season and the can
cellation of preseason scrim
mages, rivals Winder-Barrow
and Apalachee returned to the
gridiron Sept. 4 for the 17th
annual “Battle of Barrow,’’ and
the Bulldoggs claimed a 34-
27 victory at R. Harold Harri
son Stadium for their second
straight win in the rivalry.
Senior running back J.C.
Green scored his fourth touch
down of the night on a 61-yard
run with 5:05 remaining, and
the Bulldoggs held off a last-
ditch effort to improve to 10-7
in the all-time series. Green ran
for 184 yards on just 17 carries
to lead the Bulldoggs.
WINDER-BARROW’S
DUDLEY GETS 200TH
CAREER WIN
Omarious Smith intercepted
an Antonio Meeks pass with 18
seconds left, and Winder-Bar
row held off Shiloh 35-28 for a
key Region 8-AAAAAA win
on Oct. 23 and gave Ed Dud
ley his 200th career victory as
a head coach.
Dudley, in his third season at
Winder-Barrow and 27th over
all, became the 62nd coach in
Georgia high school football
history to reach 200 wins.
WBHS BOYS’CROSS
COUNTRY TEAM WINS
REGION TITLE
The Winder-Barrow boys’
cross country team got four
top-10 finishes to win the Re
gion 8-AAAAAA champion
ship meet on their home course
between Russell Middle and
Winder elementary schools on
Oct. 24.
Junior Brian Gaddy paced
the Bulldoggs with a fifth-place
finish (16:52.30), crossing the
line just ahead of senior team
mate Ryan Kehoe (16:52.90).
Junior Christopher Parada-Ru-
bio came in seventh place
(16:56.90), and sophomore
Daniel Laird finished 10th
(17:35.80). Sophomore Kyle
Kehoe came in 16th (18:10.20)
to help give the Bulldoggs a
team score of 37, well ahead
of second-place Dacula (68).
All five of those runners, along
with junior Noah Boyd and
senior Jacques De la Reza rep
resented Winder-Barrow and
finished 11th as a team in the
Class 6A state meet at Carroll
ton High School on Nov. 6.
Also, Winder-Barrow soph
omore Matilee Rogers finished
second in the region meet
(20:43.80) and registered a top-
20 finish at the state meet.
AHS VOLLEYBALL
REACHES ELITE EIGHT
Apalachee’s volleyball team
reached its second Elite Eight
under Joey Alfonso before
dropping a 3-0 decision to
Whitewater at home in the state
quarterfinals on Oct. 27.
Apalachee had to reload
after losing some key seniors
off the 2019 team, but still had
seven seniors play their final
match in a Wildcat uniform.
Senior outside hitter Emily
Crocker finished the season
with 597 kills, cementing her
place as one of the top players
in program history.
AHS SOFTBALL
MAKES FINAL FOUR
Strong pitching from senior
all-stater and Georgia State
signee Emily Hodnett and
solid hitting up and down the
lineup led the Apalachee soft-
ball team to a historic season
that saw the Wildcats finish
28-8 and reach the Class 5A
Final Four before losing a pair
of one-run games to Whitewa
ter and Starr’s Mill in Colum
bus on Oct. 30.
The Wildcats’ heart-stop-
ping playoff run included
a walk-off three-run homer
by sophomore catcher Sam
Woody that capped a sec
ond-round sweep of Calhoun.
Apalachee reached the Final
Four by sweeping Northgate
in the quarterfinals with a pair
of 1-0 victories. Sophomore
shortstop Tiyara Wingfield
supplied both runs in that se
ries with a sixth-inning homer
in Game 1 and an RBI single
in the fourth inning of Game
2.
The Wildcats reached the
Final Four with a team that
still consisted mostly of un
derclassmen and is set to re
turn six starters in 2021.
WINDER-BARROW’S
MERRIFIELD
SIGNS WITH
FLORIDAATLANTIC
Winder-Barrow senior de
fensive end Jacob Merrifield
put together another strong
season in 2020 and was named
the Region 8-AAAAAA De
fensive Player of the Year.
The 6-foot-3. 275-pound,
3-star recruit committed to
Florida Atlantic over the sum
mer and signed with the Owls
on Dec. 19 on the first day
of the NCAA’s early-signing
period. Merrifield graduated
early from Winder-Barrow
and will enroll early at Florida
Atlantic in January.
December 30, 2020 ~ Crossword Puzzle
Across
Down
1.
Specialist
1.
Plunk
4.
Terminates
2.
Lion’s cry
8.
Performance
3.
Cheery one
12.
Cut off
4.
Proved human
13.
Chess piece
5.
6.
Negative responses
Two, to Juan
14.
Melody
7.
Patrol or instructor
15.
Meal starter
8.
Hi-fi
16.
Dwelling
9.
Large lump
18.
Fixes the cost of
10.
A single time
20.
Bothered
11.
Gardener’s nemesis
21.
Rabid
17.
Part of DJ
22.
Military station
19.
Unscrupulous fellow
24.
Raring to go
22.
Lures
26.
Confronts boldly
23.
Certain pilot
30.
Sibling
24.
Volcanic dust
31.
Hasten
25.
By way of
27.
Yelled
32.
Passing grade
28.
Ball holder
33.
Small ax
29.
Do needlework
36.
Witch’s concoction
31.
Garment edge
37.
Radio buffs
34.
Cheddar or Swiss, e.g.
38.
Neckline shape
35.
Fastening device
39.
French edibles
36.
Beseech
42.
Stogies
38.
Floor covering
45.
Wedding bash
39.
Forehead
48.
overboard!
40.
Accomplish again
49.
Poetic tributes
41.
Cake decorator
42.
Advance
50.
Land force
43.
Storm
51.
Freudian topic
44.
Stuffed shirt
52.
Eroded
46.
Sticky roofing
53.
Film spool
material
54.
Society gal
47.
Hot temper
1
2
3
12
15
18
21
24
25
30
33
39
40
41
r
5
6
H
r
r
17
8
9
10
11
14
45
49
52
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